•12 people still missing •Govt demolishes shanties to save lives
Kuramo Beach – the Lagos fun spot and home of an army of petty traders - where one person died and 15 went missing at the weekend is no more.
The beach was demolished yesterday after the government evacuated its residents.
An ocean surge that ravaged the beach on Saturday triggered the demolition, which seems to have worsened the situation of the occupants.
Many of them were yesterday mourning the loss of their properties and loved ones, who were swept away when the Atlantic Ocean tore through its banks.
Three bodies, believed to be of those carried away by the receding surge, were found on the Bar Beach, raising the number of recovered bodies to four.
Fifteen persons were reported missing after the surge on Saturday.
The recovered bodies were those of two adults and a girl identified as Bisi, daughter of Tunde Kolawole, a resident of the beach.
Officials from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have been combing the beach for the missing persons.
The authorities said the demolition was necessary to forestall further loss of lives.
Midnight on Saturday, the peak period for fun-seeking patrons of the beach, the Atlantic Ocean surged, tearing through the 20 metre-wide beach at the midpoint, to link with the Kuramo Lake on the other side, making about half of its length inaccessible.
“Remember it even happened on midnight on Saturday when the beach is bubbling”, he said.
A man, who claimed to have lost his means of livelihood” to the surge, said about 40 cabins would have been lost.
After inspecting the ruin at the weekend, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Adesegun Oniru, announced government’s decision to demolish all the remaining cabins and gave the occupants till 12 noon of yesterday to leave.
He described the demolition as necessary to pave the way for state government’s intervention project of “pushing back the ocean.”
He said: “If you were here yesterday (Saturday)”, he told reporters yesterday; “you cannot stand where we are now. Sand from the Atlantic City was brought to fill up this place and made it accessible. So, the people can pack their valuables. Now, they have to leave so we can complete the barricade.”
When it dawned on them that they had barely 24 hours to relocate, the urge to survive overtook the pains inflicted by the quit notice. They quickly dashed in to pick whatever they considered valuable.
The evacuation was intensified yesterday morning as mattresses, locally-made alcoholic drinks, and sound systems – depicting the social of the residents, were hauled away.
The bulldozer commenced the demolition at about 11:40am but as the dust of the exercise settled about one hour later, the suppressed pain and grief seeped out and tears flowed freely on the occupant’s faces.
“I have lost about five of my men to this incident and the best thing they can tell me is to leave here for nowhere,” said Edwards.
He went on: “We know this beach is no longer safe to do business but the least the government can do is to give us an ultimatum rather than order us out.”
With tears, 80-year-old Olatunji Adetoro, who claimed to have been living on Kuramo for 54 years, begged the government to “give us another place to settle down.”
A woman who declines to mention her name criticised the demolition as inhuman.
She said: “I can take care of myself and daughter if they have given us time to move out. I have been doing that without any help from government. Now if I join prostitution, they will still arrest me. “This business took me six years to setup but they destroyed it in 30 minutes.
“I was selling gold at Mushin market before it got burnt,” said a woman who identified herself as Margaret Johnson.
“Many of us here have lived our lives without any government help and we are not begging government to provide for us. Our annoyance is that the management should have consulted with government to give us like two weeks to move. Why then are we paying that much?, she said.
The Nation investigation showed that there were about 110 cabins on the beach and about 20 people fend from each cabin. Cabin operators, depending on the location of the cabin, pay between N50, 000 - N70, 000 per month to the beach’s management and local government.
Edward said: “There is nobody in government today that has not come here to canvass for vote. We risked our lives for them during the election.
“See the way they treated us like common dog now. Look at the vehicle of the chairman [of the beach], the number plate carries a chieftaincy crest of Eti-Osa local government. So, they cannot claim we are here illegally.
“Now, more than 2000 people have been rendered useless and they may not have a choice than to take to crime because what they built with sweat was destroyed illegally.”
For the avoidance of doubt, “Kuramo Beach is gone,” said the commissioner, making the famous beach the third to be sacked by ocean surge, after Bar and Alpha beaches.
“The entire Lagos coastline, whether the plush Lekki environs or the poor Okun Alfa, lies under this natural threat, and demands urgent interventions to curtail the ocean, like the embankment project done by the Lagos State government on the Eko Atlantic City and Bar Beach. The project has saved the entire Victoria Island and Ikoyi from being submerged.”
Allaying the fear that the surge could have been fueled by the multi-billion naira Eko Atlantic City project for which the state plans to recover about nine kilometre lost land from the ocean, with an intention to build a world-class city estate of about 250,000 housing units.
Oniru had on several occasions said that the Eko Atlantic City would not have any environmental impact on the area as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been duly conducted and certified okay.
He recalled: “When President Goodluck Jonathan visited this area after the July 10, 2011 flood, we were happy that soon there will be solution to this environmental threat but unfortunately nothing has happened since then.”
He therefore blamed the disaster on the neglect by the Federal government saying the problem would have been solved a long time ago if the apex government had redeemed its promises to assist Lagos state government to solve the ocean problem.
“You will recall that we came here about three months ago with the president Goodluck Jonathan to show him the enormity of the ecological disaster looming on the water front here. From that time till now we have lost about 10 metres of our land to the ocean surge and people’s lives and properties are constantly been threatened by the surge.
“What we need here is permanent solution to the problem like we did on the Bar Beach. That is why you see the whole of Ahmadu Bello Way is not flooded. This problem is not a Lagos problem it is a national problem. The Federal government should come to the aid of the state government. Huge amount of money is required to put permanent solution and the state government alone cannot finance this.”
LASEM’s General Manager Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the state had launched frantic search for 12 persons who were declared missing in the aftermath of the surge.
The victims, according to him are petty traders at the waterfront who reside in the makeshift shanties located within the Kuramo area.
He said the recovered bodies were deposited at the Isolo General Hospital Morgue.
http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/news/58392-more-lagos-ocean-surge-victims%E2%80%99-bodies-recovered.html
| Posted: at | |
TRENDING GISTS 
I'm Building PDP, Not Tearing it Apart - Wike Addresses The Press (Video)
VIDEO: Man Caught While Waiting For a Minor he Had Solicited S£x From Online
Emotional Moment Femi Adebayo Presented His 2025 AMVCA Trophies to His Dad, Adebayo Salami
Rapper, Phyno Unveils His Daughter, Shares Adorable Video to Mark Her Second Birthday
Ex Madrid Player, Xabi Alonso Seals Managerial Move To Real Madrid As Ancelotti Bows Out
Retired Teacher, Mallam Kabiru Killed, Wife Abducted As Bandits Invade Zamfara School Quarters