Businesses and commercial activities remained suspended in many parts of Lagos and Ogun states on Wednesday after heavy rains that continued for 10 hours.
The resulting flooding caused a two-storey building to collapse in the Mushin area of Lagos, paralyzing vehicular traffic on roads and overwhelming thousands of residents.
Students were prevented from attending school in parts of the state.
The Lagos state government said the rains lasted for nine hours, but in some parts of the state, it began falling at midnight and did not stop until midday, resulting in 12 hours of rain.
These locations include Berger, Ikeja, and Ogba, where the rains continued for 10 hours in some areas. Our correspondent who visited some of the flood-affected areas of Lagos State including Iyana Oworo, Agege, Ijegun Isheri Osun, Gbagada, and Lagos Island, observed roads and houses submerged in water following hours of rain.
Other flooded parts of Lagos include Eledo, Bojije, Sangotedo, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Awoyaya, Abiyon, and Labora.
Journalists also visited Atang-Ota, Asise, Sango-Ota, Ifo, and Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State where he confirmed that major roads were flooded and impassable, leaving passengers stranded. Heavy rains that began around midnight caused a two-storey building on Cameroon Street in the Mushin area of Lagos to collapse, injuring seven people.
The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Disaster Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyntolu, said the seven victims were rescued alive from the collapsed building. He attributed the collapse of the newly constructed building to bad weather.
He said, “Seven people were rescued alive from a building which collapsed in bad weather in Ewenla, Mushin, early this morning. “When the LRT arrived at the scene, a newly constructed two-storey building was found to have collapsed. Three women and four men were rescued alive and were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.”
“Authority search and rescue teams have searched the rubble and have been able to confirm that there are no victims beneath the collapsed building. The area has been sealed off and operations are still ongoing.”
