It was tragic Eid-el-Fitr, yesterday, as high waves
accompanied by ocean surge swept away 16 persons in Lagos. One victim was
reported dead. The police confirmed the body was recovered. The victims, Sunday Vanguard learnt, last night, include 11
traders in a boat, four picknickers and a diver.
Scene of disaster was Kuramo Beach on Victoria Island.
The disaster occurred as Lagos State government ordered
"immediate evacuation of the state's waterfront."Kuramo Beach was
listed among the waterfront to be evacuated "to make way for movement of
sand into the area." A state government statement on the evacuation was
silent on those allegedly swept away.
The take-off point and destination of the traders in the
ill-fated boat could not be ascertained at press time. A local diver on a
fishing boat who attempted to rescue the traders in the boat reportedly got
drowned. The four fun seekers at Kuramo Beach were said to have been swept off
with their cabins.
Some fishermen who
were paddling their canoe towards the upper side of the beach were, according
to sources, swept away. Reports claim yesterday’s tragic was not the first of
its kind as residents said the surge occurs once every year.
Prominent hotels and houses in Victoria Island, according to
eye witnesses, were flooded. Confirming the story, Lagos State Police
Spokesmen, Ngozi Braide, said 17 policemen were drafted to the scene.
According to her, the tragedy, which started at about 7a.m.
had the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Victoria Island, Mr Adegoke
Fayoade, sending policemen to cordon off the area so that the surge did not
consume more people.
Braide confirmed that one dead body was recovered around
6p.m. Senior Assistant to Governor Babatunde Fashola on Media and Publicity,
Mr. Hakeem Bello, said the state government was on top of the situation. In a
statement, Bello said following seven days of high waves accompanied by a strong
ocean surge which hit the country's coastline with Lagos being among the worst
hit due to its location, Lagos State Government ordered the immediate
evacuation of the state's waterfront.
He quoted the state Commissioner for Waterfront
Infrastructure Development, Prince Segun Oniru, as saying the process started
with the immediate evacuation of the Kuramo Beach to make way for movement of
sand into the area.
The action, the statement explained, had to be taken
immediately to avert the disaster of the Atlantic joining the Kuramo waters and
subsequently the lagoon.
The statement said the state was getting the extreme of
weather condition due to the location of Lagos State, noting that coastal
waterfront areas badly affected from which people would be expected to move
include Badagry and Ojo waterfront areas, Bar Beach, Kuramo Beach, Goshen
Estate, Maiyegun and Alpha Beach.
It added that the state emergency services had been
mobilized to monitor the situation and respond accordingly. The statement urged
everyone to remain calm.
Source: Vanguard
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