Cajetan Mmuta, Benin 
*As residents blast govt over failure to sustain water storm project in Edo
Hundreds of residents of Benin and adjoining towns in Edo State have been rendered homeless following hours of downpour on Saturday.
New Telegraph Correspondent who went round to monitor situation in Benin, the state capital city, noted that several houses were submerged by flood waters while several others were destroyed in the process.
No part of the capital was spared by the flood and areas worse hit included parts of Government Reserve Area (GRA), First East Circular, Ekenwan Road, Sakponba Road, Erediauwa, Sapele Road, Okhoro Street and Ugbowo areas of the town.
This is as the state government has warned residents, especially those living in flood-prone areas, to desist from dumping refuse in water ways, noting that the indiscriminate dumping of dirt and refuse into gutters and other water channels can cause blockage, leading to avoidable flooding.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led state government has taken serious measures to mitigate the impact of flooding in Edo, including improvement of the state’s drainage systems and the completion of erosion and flood control projects in the three senatorial districts of the state.
Many cars were destroyed by the flood aside the destructions by the flood and submerged houses.
As at Sunday afternoon residents were seen still busy scooping water from their homes even as they lament the destructions of their properties in the midst of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the victims, who spoke to our Correspondent, painted gloomy picture of future if government does not come to their assistance in order to help them recover from their losses.
