By Levinus Nwabughiogu
ABUJA—THE House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to declare Auchi, Etsako federal constituency, Edo State, an ecological disaster area.

The House also mandated its Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to determine the cause of abandonment of Sampou-Elemebiri-Utuechi- Ndoni-Ase-Azaga-Ogu-Ipele-Onitsha Road project.

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The resolutions followed two different motions sponsored by Mr Johnson Oghuma from Edo State and Mr. Uchechuku Nnam-Obi from Rivers State at yesterday’s plenary.

Moving his motion,  Oghuma recalled a recent incident of flooding and gully erosion in Igbe which he said was a major commercial centre of Auchi town.

According to him, the natural disaster affected the people greatly.

He said: “The House notes the catastrophic disaster in some parts of Auchi, Etsako federal constituency, that were greatly affected by flooding and gully erosion include the Igbe Road axis, which is a major commercial centre of Auchi town and on the South side of Idani-race community also in Auchi, to mention a few.”

He expressed concern that the 2018 budget allocation to address some of the humanitarian crisis may not be enough considering the ecological situation on ground and the magnitude of the impending danger.

Adopting the motion, the House called on the Federal Government to make additional funds available from the Ecological Fund to “give room for effective control and management of the catastrophe.”

It also urged the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to provide relief materials to the affected persons just as it mandated the Committees on Environment and Habitat, Water Resources and Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance and report back within 8 weeks for further legislative action.

Also speaking on  the need to complete the Sampou-Elemebiri-Utuechi- Ndoni-Ase-Azaga-Ogu-Ipele-Onitsha Road project that links Anambra and Rivers States, Nnam-Obi expressed regrets that the contractor abandoned the project for lack of funds.

Adopting the motion, the House asked its  Committee on NDDC to determine the cause of abandonment of the contract and ensure that it was re-awarded to a firm that would speedily execute the project.

The committee was given eight weeks to conclude its assignment and report back to the House for further legislative action.

Similarly, the House also asked the Inspection General of Police, IGP to deploy troops to 16 communities in Adamawa State where there had been attacks that had consumed 15 lives and destroyed properties worth millions of Naira.

The House made the call via a motion brought to it by  Abdurazak Namdas, its spokesperson.

Namdas had told the House that “sixteen communities in the Southern Zone of Adamawa have been involved in reprisal attacks leading to loss of lives and property worth million of Naira.”

According to him, the communities were Dakasun, Bukurehi, Tugga, Wuro-Galadinma, Kaurame, Bakole, Ubaka, Dukule, Gengle, Saban Kasuwa, Bidda, Dundere, Namarde, Lanyara Gurin, Mayo-Lope, Kiri Demsa and Yelwa.

He expressed “worry that these reprisal attacks are on the increase and had so far claimed over 15 lives and more than 3000 people mostly women and children currently displaced.”