No fewer than 50 buildings and some electric poles were destroyed in an early morning heavy downpour that wreaked havoc on buildings and some public property in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Sunday.
The stormy rainfall which started at about 3am and lasted for two hours, accompanied by a terrible wind that shook buildings, shops and others violently had caused stir among residents in the city.
Checks by journalists in Ado Ekiti on Sunday showed that electric poles and high-tension wires were felled by the wind that preceded the heavy downpour.
Roofs of many houses were blown off while walls of buildings were also pulled down by the wind.
As at 10am on Sunday, electric poles and wires were seen across the old garage road, a major road where most commercial activities and heavy vehicular movements are concentrated.
A hotel, Anisulowo hotel in Ajilosun area of the city, and some buildings inside the premises of Fabotas College, a private school on Ikere Road in Ado-Ekiti were among many other buildings that had their roofs blown off courtesy of the fury of the wind.
Residents and transporters among others lamented the tragic development and called on government to urgently get rid of the poles and wires that scattered across the road.
They also blamed government officials who erected the electricity poles for allegedly doing shoddy jobs.
“If they have done the poles very well, it is possible that the rain would not destroy it. You can see now that the rain has exposed them with this development, ” Yemisi Oguntoyinbo, a passer-by commented.
Another resident, Dada Olutayo, whose wall of his rented apartment was felled by the wind,, said: “when the terrible wind blew violently early this morning, we suspected that it would cause havoc and that is what has happened now. We appeal to government to urgently remove the electricity poles and cables across the road so that it doesn’t cause problem when the power people restore light. I am sure that with what has happened to the cables and poles, electricity problem in the areas affected would linger for very long time. It has been a usual thing.”
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