BY CHIKA OKEKE
The residents of Ayetoro community in Ilaje Council Area of Ondo State are excruciating as about 500 to 700 buildings including schools and places of worship worth millions of naira were washed away during sea turbulence.
This was even as the 20-year-old surge rendered many landlords homeless, while majority of the residents had relocated to the neighboring communities.
The coastal community of Ayetoro with an estimated population of 10, 000 residents had been battling with ocean surge for than 10 decades.
In a two minutes and 51 seconds video titled: 'Save Ayetoro From Extinction', a male voice was heard at the background describing the impact of the ocean surge that occurred on Monday, April 17, 2023.
He said that many houses were destroyed, while more than half of the community were encroached by the ravaging sea turbulence.
Describing the incident as excruciating and sardonic, he called on the relevant agencies to rescue the community from the decades sea turbulent, adding that Ayetoro must not go into extinction.
"That is the iconic worship center, the church of the community submerged by the sea. For the past one year now, we have relocated the worship center to another place.
"These are ancient houses built by our forefathers. We don't know where we are going and we don't have anywhere to go," he added.
He appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor of Onda State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ondo State Oil Producing Development Commission (OSOPADEC) and the international community to intervene, lamenting that Ayetoro is a glorious community that must not go into extinction.
Corroborating the story, the Secretary of Ayetoro Youths Congress, Emmanuel Aralu, noted that more than 200 homes were displaced, adding that more than half of the community landmass were taken over by the surge.
Aralu lamented that the surge is an annual occurrence which successive government had failed to resolve for more than 20 years, noting that hundreds of homes and properties including schools, hospitals and business centers were destroyed, with several people displaced by the ocean surge.
“From 2015 till date, the community has lost over 10 kilometers of the landscape to the ravaging sea surge. This time around, no fewer than 500 to 700 buildings has been destroyed, with properties worth millions of naira washed away.
“We have cried to the state and Federal Government but all efforts to get the government's attention proved abortive," Aralu said.
The secretary hinted that contractors had been mobilised to the site twice for the dredging of the ocean but they failed to execute the project, wondering why the government never probed the contractors while the residents are dying yearly.
He hinted that N6.5 billion shoreline protection contract was awarded to Atlantic Dredgers Limited (DAL) in 2006, just as he blamed the state government and NDDC for their lackadaisical attitude towards the natural disaster.
Aralu pleaded with the government at all levels to save Aiyetoro community from going into extinction.
As at the time of filing this report, the state government is yet to issue an official statement about the incident
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