Monarch seeks assistance for community over rainstorm

The traditional ruler of Are-Ekiti community in Irepodun/Ifelodun local government, Ekiti State, Oba Boluade Adebiyi, is seeking the assistance of both the state and federal governments for residents of the community over the devastating effects of rainstorm in the area.

Oba Adebiyi lamented that over 46 houses, including his own palace, were affected by the rainstorm, which he lamented had rendered many people homeless.

Speaking to reporters in his palace yesterday, the Alare of Are Ekiti, said, “As you can see, part of the palace roof has been blown off, but that is not my immediate problem. My concern now is how to take care of my people who have become homeless by this natural disaster.”

One of the victims of the rainstorm, Mr Ayodele Anisulowo of No. 18, Odo Ode Street, lamented that the rainstorm blew off his family house’s roof, rendering the household homeless and destroying valuable property.

Similarly, an octogenarian and widow, Madam Jibiye Adeleye, said she had been forced to relocate to her father’s house pending when her children would repair the house.

“I have a place to lay my head for now. But it is not convenient at all. l was married for almost 60 years and since I left for my husband’s house, I have not come back to sleep a night here in my father’s house, until now,” she said.

Oba Adebiyi, who said he had contacted relevant state and federal authorities to come to the aid of the community, also appealed to the indigenes of Are Ekiti in diaspora to come home and help their people.

The traditional ruler, who explained that the victims were yet to receive relief materials, expressed the hope that both the Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency (ESEMA) and its federal counterpart, whose officials had visited the community to assess the damage, would do something very soon.

The General Manager, ESEMA, Mr Buruji Olajide, told journalists that Are Ekiti was not the only community affected by the rainstorm.

Olajide mentioned Ado Ekiti, Afao and Igbemo in Irepodun/ Ifelodun local government and Isan Ekiti and Iludun in Oye local government as other communities where the rainstorm wrought destruction.