Hundreds of people in the riverine community of Ayetoro in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo state, who were displaced by ocean surge, have appealed to the state government to assist them.
The surge reportedly destroyed properties worth millions of naira and also displaced the people at the early hours of Tuesday, September 1.
Expressing their feelings to the government delegation led by the state Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Sola Ebiseni, who inspected the area to assess the extent of damage the surge had caused, the youths of the community, who displayed placards with various inscriptions such as “Ayetoro says no to sea incursion, sea surge”; “Ondo State Government, save our land of birth,” among others, appealed to the government to intervene in the matter.
Ebiseni, who was accompanied to the community by the teams from the Niger Delta Development Commission, Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, State Emergency Management Agency and officials of the local government to the area, promised that immediate intervention and relief materials would be delivered to the victims.
He stated that the state government received a report on the natural and ecological hazards that occurred in the community which destroyed properties and infrastructures worth millions of naira.
“A report was sent to the governor of Ondo State and to our ministry to come and see the damage being done to the community by ocean surge,” he stated.
He noted that he knew the level of the damage done so far as indigene of the riverine area.
Ebiseni said further that though the sea had receded before his arrival, the effects of the surge seen while traversing the length and breadth of the community underscored the negative impact of the disaster on the people.
“Nature is so precious to us and we cannot allow the ecological problem peculiar to this area to erode the rich cultural heritage and notable civilisation of the area,” he stated.
He stated that as a matter of urgency, the state government would expedite actions on proffering lasting solutions to the problem, which he noted as the priority of the Governor, Mr.OlusegunMimiko.
The delegation also lauded the residents for their maturity and patriotic reaction in maintaining peace and order, adding that disasters lesser than the surge in magnitude had resulted in civil unrest in some parts of Niger Delta states.
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