Several neighbourhoods in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, were flooded over the weekend, with several automobiles submerged. Many residents are pointing fingers at FCT minister Nyesom Wike for allegedly encroaching on the city’s green areas.
The rains on Saturday and Sunday saw streets across districts in the capital city flooded, causing commuters to be stranded.
Footage of cars covered in water and homes flooded in different locations, including Wuse, Jabi, Maitama, Katampe and Apo districts in Abuja, emerged on the internet following rainfall over the weekend.
A video recorded while the rain fell in the Utako area showed how flooding disrupted traffic flow, causing people to stop until the rain stopped.
“Utako, the park side and market is blocked while it is raining right now,” a man and a woman recording the video said. “Our FCT minister, you know what to do.”
Isaac Fayose, a resident of Maitama, in a video on X, accused the minister of encroaching on green areas against the Abuja master plan, causing the blockage of waterways.
“We’ve never had flood like this in Abuja,” Mr Fayose said, sharing a video of a building flooded with water in Maitama. “I hope you people are seeing how flood is happening in Abuja now? We have been warning about how Wike was selling Abuja gardens, grabbing garden lands and waterways. Now they have sold the gardens and the buildings have blocked the waterways.”
A public commentator on X, Samuel Omogor, also lamented the flooding caused by rainfall in Abuja, saying, “I have written about this even before the rains started, that Abuja is being destroyed out of greed. I have said it over and over that all the waterways in Abuja were being sand-filled and buildings erected, and that the city will pay dearly for it.”
Mr Omogor added, “Wike is blocking all waterways. In fact, his Hypercity Supermarket and filling station are being built on a place where no permanent structure is supposed to be built.”
Posting a video of the flood in Wuse II on social media, an X user, Zekeri Idris, said Abuja had not experienced flooding before now. However, the city is completely broken under Mr Wike’s watch.
“There was nothing like “one chance” or urchins waiting to stab you if your vehicle broke down at midnight. This was even with zero police checkpoints extorting and harassing citizens,” Mr Idris said. “Today, the city is irretrievably broken. Nothing works. Roads are filled with potholes, and I see Abuja residents saying, “Wike is working.””
He added, “Just take a look at the flooding in Abuja! Wike has ZERO knowledge of proper city management. There is something wrong with us in this country! We don’t think correctly!”
Lere Olayinka, spokesperson for Mr Wike, told Peoples Gazette that criticisms targeted at Mr Wike were unfair because Abuja had experienced such flooding before, adding that the drainage system was overwhelmed by the volume of water.
“We have seen floods like this even in developed countries. When you have heavy downpour, most likely the drainage system was overwhelmed and could not contain the flow of water. After 30 or 40 minutes, the water disappeared,” Mr Olayinka said.
Dismissing criticism that the flood was caused by encroachment on green areas, Mr Olayinka said, “What has garden land building got to do with flooding? Let me give you two instances: I saw a video of flooding in front of Transcorp Hilton. If you are familiar with that area, is there any new construction of a building around that place? There is another one in Wuse, around Blantyre Street. Is there any construction going on there?”
He added, “I’ve seen comments, reactions and people’s positions. People speaking like they are looking for something negative to say about Wike. Now they have found one. I’ve seen people saying Wike has destroyed Abuja. This has never happened before. How can anybody tell me that flood like that never happened before in Abuja when it happened in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2020 and 2018? People should not come out and say it is something that has not happened before. Where are the green areas being converted?”
According to Mr Olayinka, the FCT administration is working to improve the drainage system and prevent subsequent flooding after heavy rainfall, as experienced over the weekend.
