Dredge Yemule River To Avert Future Loss – Fish Farmers Cry Out After Losing N500m To ‘Avoidable’ Flood

A story coming from the bustling fish farm sector in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State is bitter to swallow. It appears fish farmers lost fishery investments calculated at about N500 million to flash floods that occured on July 8, 2022.

We sympathise with the fish farmers. It is not easy in Nigeria’s current economic situation. According to a Daily Post report, some of the farmers have called for dredging of the Yemule River to make it big enough to accommodate the increased water flow channelled into it due to the ongoing construction of the Molipa-Imowo Expressway in the area.

Addressing newsmen on Friday, the Chairman of the Ikanga Agoro Fish Farmers Association, Lazarus Okole, appealed for help from the Federal and state governments in form of soft loans to cushion the loss. They certainly need the bailout.

People reacting to the news have also asked that fish farmers use reputable insurance companies to insure their businesses against unexpected occurrences like this.

We also ask that more is done – if not being done already – to look at possible environmental impact of road construction to rainwater drainage during rainy season road construction, especially in areas where there are businesses close to the river banks that may easily get flooded.

By OzoIgboNdu1 of Igbo Defender

Digital marketer and Marketing analyst

14 comments

  1. Omo, wahala be like bicycle. I hear say those people’s fish ponds were washed away just like that. The government should have proactively dredged that river, anticipating such a thing.

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