The Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, on Tuesday, condoled with the victims of rain disaster that blew off the rooftop and destroyed the walls of some buildings at Omu and Ijelu Ekiti, two neighbouring communities, in Oye Local Government Area of the State.
Oyebanji expressed sadness over how no fewer than hundreds of residents were dislodged from their residences, by the devastating effect of the stormy rainfall that wreaked havoc on some buildings in the town, on Sunday.
Mostly affected were churches, educational institutions and residential buildings, including the palace of Elejelu of Ijelu Ekiti, Oba Isaac Ajayi Adetoyinbo.
While inspecting the level of wreckage done to the structures, on Tuesday, Oyebanji, represented by the Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, sympathised with the victims, assuring that the state government will take steps to palliate their sufferings.
Oyebanji stated that he was elated by the fact that nobody died or sustained fatal injuries during the rainstorm.
The governor directed those still residing in the already affected buildings to vacate immediately, to avert being caught in the web of sudden building collapse.
The governor appealed to residents of the community to embrace the tree planting initiative of the state government, by planting trees within the radius of their residential area, to break the storm and avert unwarranted destruction of property during heavy downpour.
“The Governor really sympathised with you. This is a sad incident, but the government is still coming for comprehensive assessment and enumeration. We shall surely help you to rebuild what you have lost.
“We thank God that nobody died. But we are still appealing to you to key into our tree planting policy. Planting trees around your houses will help in controlling storm.
“Our traditional rulers must help in sensitising our people on the need to take some precautionary measures in their council and town meetings by way of encouraging our them to plant trees around their houses. This is part of the ways to prevent disaster of this nature”, Oyebanji counseled.
Oyebanji also counseled the residents to undertake some palliative works on their dilapidated buildings, saying some of the structures were already in decrepit fashion and no longer habitable.
Applauding Oyebanji for the visit, a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, representing Oye constituency II, Hon. Idowu Odebunmi, urged the victims not to despair, saying the state government will come to their aid to rebuild the destroyed structures.
Odebunmi commended Governor Oyebanji for the speedy reconstruction works being undertaken on Itapa-Ijelu-Omu road, assuring that the town shall reciprocate the gesture in the subsequent elections.
“You all know where Governor Oyebanji stands. He is a man of the people. He won’t abandon you at this trying time. He has mandated the SEMA office to do the enumeration of the affected structures to ascertain the level of the damage and how to help you.
“Over 30 buildings were affected in the two towns with scores of people now rendered homeless”, the lawmaker revealed
Making strong case for the victims, the Owajumu of Omu-Ekiti, Oba Adeyeye Ogundeyi, saluted Governor Oyebanji for the assessment tour, saying this signposted that the current leadership in the state cares about the people.
Oba Ogundeyi revealed that a total of 22 houses were affected in his domain, with some losing their roofs and their walls destroyed during the stormy rain.