Flooding has displaced more than 1,000 households and affected hundreds of buildings in several communities in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

The affected areas include Gbodofon, Ogo-Oluwa, Omigade, Ijetu, Oke Arungbo, Baruwa and Isale Osun, where residential buildings, schools, hotels and business premises were inundated.

According to findings, more than 700 buildings located around Ijetu, Isale Osun and Oke Osun, close to the Osun River, were affected by the flood.

A resident of Ijetu, Alhaji Teslim Olasunkanmi, said property worth millions of naira had been destroyed since the flooding began on Monday.

Olasunkanmi said more than 500 buildings had already been affected in Ijetu, forcing residents of some of the houses to abandon their homes.

He appealed for urgent intervention to clear what he described as a blocked section of the Osun River passing through the community.

Further assessment of Oke Arungbo, Gbodofon and Baruwa showed that more than 400 buildings had been affected, while about 70 buildings were reportedly impacted in Ogo-Oluwa.

The situation also forced residents to evacuate their belongings, with five buildings in Ogo-Oluwa reportedly collapsing as the floodwater persisted.

The Secretary of Aroko Island Community, Ogo-Oluwa, Osogbo, Akeem Gbadegesin, said residents whose homes were spared had begun accommodating some of the displaced households.

Gbadegesin said the water level had continued to rise despite the absence of rainfall in Osogbo on Wednesday. He appealed to the state government to assist displaced residents and implement measures to prevent a recurrence.

Meanwhile, the Osun State Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Mayowa Adejoorin, who inspected some of the affected communities, sympathised with the victims and assured them that the state government would respond to the disaster with urgency.

Adejoorin urged residents to stop dumping refuse and debris in waterways, while cautioning against construction close to riverbanks.

He also directed town-planning authorities to stop approving buildings considered to be located in high-risk areas.