Rainstorm on Wednesday destroyed properties in Ojodu and Ojodu-Abiodun areas, located in Lagos and Ogun states respectively.
Residents said the rain lasted less than an hour, but wreaked havoc that would take a long period to overcome.
Although some structures were affected in the communities, there was no report of casualty during the incident.
The Ojodu-Abiodun Area Office building, Ifo Local Government, Ogun State and buildings belonging to area chiefs, such as the Baale, Balogun Aina, and the Amuludun of Ojoduland, were damaged by the storm.
When PUNCH Metro visited the area, it was observed that roofing sheets, vehicles, water tanks and electric cables had either been blown away or damaged.
A resident, Mr. Akindele Balogun, described the wind that accompanied the rain as “forceful”.
He said, “The rain lasted about 45 minutes, but the destruction happened within just 10 minutes of that time. What caused the destruction was not the rain, but the strong wind.”
Another resident, whose building was affected by the rainstorm, Mrs. Fasilat Salau, said she had just renovated the house with new roofing sheets, some weeks ago.
PUNCH Metro observed that a large part of the roofing of her house had been blown off by the storm. Some men were seen lifting a fallen water tank back to its place, on a raised pavement.
She said, “We don’t know where to sleep tonight with our roof gone. The water also flooded our rooms and we have been trying to drain it, but our fear is that it may soon rain.
“In the 30 years that I’ve lived here, we have not experienced anything like this in this area. The carpenter said that we will need two bundles of wood and three bundles of roofing sheets. I understand that the roofing sheets alone cost N11,000 per bundle, this is unexpected.”
The Balogun Aina of Ojoduland was away from home during the storm, but his son, Wasiu Aina, who spoke on his behalf, said four rooms and three shops were affected in their building.
“We have informed him (Balogun) on the telephone, but he will still be surprised when he comes back and sees the damage,” he said.
At Ojodu-Abiodun Area Office, there was a lot of damage to the fence, gate and the office building. Tree branches were also torn by the storm.
The Area Officer, Oluranti Odeyemi, said the extent of the damage could not be quantified yet, but that a report on it would be sent to the Local Government Secretariat.
She said, “It destroyed so many things but a photographer has taken shots of the damage. We will write a report and send to the appropriate authorities.”
Two vehicles- a Mitsubishi Pajero SUV and a Peugeot 306 saloon car- were damaged by fallen structures. Many residents were also seen outside their residences, sharing experiences of the storm.
Many of the residents expressed fears that the power outage caused by the storm might take months to fix, with the extent of damage done to their electric cables.
