Property owners and residents of Wood Island Estate at Yewa community in the Igbo-Olomu area of Ikorodu have pleaded with the Lagos State government to repair their deplorable road.
They made this known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ikorodu, Lagos State.The road connects 10 communities including Olorunsogo, Greenland, Accord Estate, Ire Akari, and Oju Oro.
The chairman, Wood Island Estate Community Development Association (CDA), Mr Sunbo Owolabi, lamented that the bad road had led to loss of property, extended travel time, and hiked transport costs for residents.
According to him, the deplorable condition of the road contributed to low commercial activities in the area while many communities often became cut off for several days during rainfall.
“We have filled the road several times, but due to the overflow of water from the canal, the road becomes impassable.
“We are appealing to the government. If the government can assist us by channeling the canal, we will be very happy.
“We have been going through this problem for more than eight years. In fact, there was a year that a child drowned,” he said.
Also speaking, the secretary of the CDA, Mrs Bimbo Olaoluwa, appreciated the state for completing the first phase and embarking on the construction of the second phase of Agric-Isawo road.
She appealed to both the local and state governments to pay attention to Wood Island Estate, saying the deplorable state of the road had caused untold hardship to people living in the community.
“We are always in a sorry state anytime there is flow of water from the canal; we trek for most of the time to our houses, coming or going out.
“Government has done well on Isawo road but we need more intervention to reduce the hardship in our community,” she said. Also, a landlord, Mr Sunday Ukor, urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to intervene urgently to save property and buildings from flooding. He lamented that the cost of transportation had increased to more than 300 per cent due to the state of the road.
“Sanwo-Olu is a listening governor. We need drains where water from the canal can pass and not destroy our property,” he added. A motorist, Mr Olayiwola Adeniyi, called on the government to repair the Wood Island Estate road because “criminals use it to perpetrate evil acts. Most of us who ply this route have stopped due to criminal activities on the road.”
