FISH farmers in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, have lamented loss of N500 million worth of investment to the flooding experienced on July 8, which washed away fish ponds in the area.
Over 200 farmers whose ponds were located at Ikangba/Agoro in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State decried the huge loss suffered as a result of the flash flood as they claimed it has destroyed their means of livelihood.
The Chairman of the Ikanga Agoro Fish Farmers Association, Lazarus Okole, disclosed to newsmen on Friday that the magnitude of loss caused by the flooding was devastating.
Okole said, “Except for urgent succour from the Federal Government and Governor Dapo Abiodun to cushion the effects of the losses, many farmers might die from the debilitating shock of the huge losses.”
Okole blamed the flood on the ongoing construction of Molipa/Imowo highway.
He thereby appealed to the government to dredge the Yemule river to make it wide and deep enough to accommodate the volume of water going into it from Molipa/Imowo expressway, Ijebu-Ode.
The fish farmer added, “As things stand now, we are in pain, many of us are operating on bank loans, we decided to go into fish farming as a way of empowering ourselves. We ventured into the business of fish farming because we don’t want to be idle hands. We have been contributing our quota to the economic development of our country but all these are gone now.
“We hereby beg President Muhammadu Buhari and our dear governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun to come to our aid. This could be in the form of granting us soft loans to cushion the effect of these tragic losses so that our members can have something with which they can start all over again.”
