Violent wind wreaks havoc, kills five in Lagos

Violent wind wreaks havoc, kills five in Lagos •Many injured, houses, cars destroyed •It’s a normal transition from dry to rainy season – NIMET

February 14, 2012

A car damaged during the violent wind at Obalende, in Lagos ... on Monday.   | credits: Olatunji Obasa

FIERCE wind tore through many sections of the Lagos metropolis on Monday, killing at least five people and destroying property estimated at millions of naira.

THE PUNCH correspondents who went round reported that the areas worst hit by the wind included Yaba, Obalende, Ikoyi, Ijeshatedo, Ago Okota, Jakande and  Bucknor Estates in Ejigbo, and some areas on the Lagos Island.

The Metereorological Manager at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Mary Iso, put the speed of the wind, accompanied by light rain, at 74 miles per hour.

But the Nigeria Metereorological Agency said the storm might not occur again. Chief Meteorologist, Central Forecating Office, NIMET, Mr. Abayomi Oyegoke, said the storm was not a special one, noting that such violent storms usually occur during the period of transition from dry to rainy season.

Oyegoke said, “We are still in the dry season. The storm occurred as a result of the transition period from dry to rainy season. It normally happens. However, it will not occur again in the nearest future. We will only experience more dusty harmattan haze before the commencement of the rainy season.

 “We could not have predicted the storm because it is a micro system. If you come to the office, you can see it on the satellite. It developed between 3am and 4am in the morning.”

One of the dead victims, whose identity could not be established before going to press, was said to have been hit in the head by falling telecommunications mast around Dodan Barracks in Ikoyi.

Eyewitnesses said the man had alighted from a motorcycle and attempted to cross the road when the mast fell on him. His corpse had been taken away by the time one of our correspondents got to the scene.

At the Low Cost Housing Estate, Jakande, two persons were killed.

According to eyewitness accounts, while a tree fell and killed a commercial motorcyclist, a student who was sheltering from the rain was killed by a falling roof at the estate.

At the Caroline Atuona  and Bisola Durosimi, Etti streets in Lekki Phase 1, two persons were also killed by a collapsed telecommunications mast.

It was gathered that one of such masts which reportedly belongs to DBN Television, collapsed and killed the security guard on duty in the company.

The victim whose identity could not be ascertained as at press time was said to have been mauled to death when the wind tore the mast from the ground and struck him on the head.

However, two men inside a Toyota Corolla with Lagos registration number JJJ 847 AA, escaped death by a whisker at Obalende when a billboard fell on their car.

The driver was said to have sustained minor injuries and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital.

An eyewitness, Aminu Umar, said the men dashed out of the car when the billboard was falling.

He said, “Luckily for them, the billboard did not fall suddenly, it was moving slowly, and the men quickly ran out of the car.

“The storm was brief but very powerful and the rain was not even heavy. Nobody really believed this much damage could occur in such a short time. But the men were really lucky.”

The accident completely blocked the bridge, leading to gridlock that extended to the Third Mainland Bridge.

The storm also uprooted some trees and destroyed some buildings along the former Federal Secretariat Road, Ikoyi.

The affected buildings included the National Insurance Commission office and the National Immigration Service office. A mast also fell and damaged the fence of a branch of the United Bank for Africa at the passport office, Ikoyi.

A security guard, who spoke on condition of anonymity at the NIC, described the damage as devastating and unexpected.

He said, “We didn’t believe something like this could happen when the rain was not even heavy. The damage had occurred before I got here around 7.30am.

“I only noticed that there was gridlock on this road when I was coming to work and I had no idea what it was until I got here and realised many places had been damaged. All along this area, a lot of buildings were damaged.”

Many workers who gathered around the old secretariat said they were shocked by the effect of the storm.

“I think God is angry. If this kind of damage would happen, at least we would have seen a rainfall of many hours. But it was a short and light rain. But the breeze was terrible,” a food vendor, Mrs. Fijabi Ayeni, said.

In Yaba, five persons also escaped death by a whisker after a billboard erected inside Adekunle Police Barracks   fell on a building in the area.

The Lagos State House of Assembly, in its reaction to the havoc wrecked on the state, has summoned the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, to explain the minitry’s preparedness for the rainy season.

At a special plenary on Monday, the state lawmakers called on all local government chairmen in the state to embark on aggressive campaign to enlighten the people on the need to desist from dumping refuse into drainage system.

Yisau Gbolahan, who moved the motion for invitation of the commissioner under matters of urgent public importance, said many houses were destroyed during the storm which blew off their roof tops.

He sympathised with the affected residents, saying that there was a need for Lagos residents to make their environment clean at all times.

In a related development, the assembly urged the state Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola to direct the Ministries of the Environment and Works and Infrastructure to provide palliative measures to the deplorable condition of barracks in the state on compassionate grounds.

The House said the state of most of the Police, Prisons and Army barracks in the state was terrible.