…We need Govt intervention —Abia community

…Rescue us from erosion impending disaster

—Akachi residents task Uzodimma lWe always dread rainy season —Oko community

…We’ve resigned to fate, only God can save us —Urualla community

By Anayo Okoli, Vincent Ujumadu, Chidi Nkwopara, Steve Oko, Jeff Agbodo, Ugochukwu Alaribe, Dennis Agbo & Emmanuel Iheaka

ENUGU—WITH the rainy season around, some erosion-prone communities in the South East region are now living in constant fear of erosion attack and devastation of their lives and property.

Some of them lament that the erosion has already eaten close to residential houses and farm lands, prompting the residents to cry out to governments to save them before harm befalls them.

We need urgent govt intervention—Abia community

In Odo Autonomous Community in Iberenta, Ikwuano Council Area of Abia State, the traditional ruler, Dr. Stanley Ijenwa, has cried out for government intervention over erosion menace devastating the community. A huge gully erosion  in the community, poses danger to several buildings and farm lands. The monarch lamented the negative impact of erosion menace on his subjects as well as their only access road.

According to him, his people live in constant fear and apprehension during rainy seasons because the erosion is usually at its worse during the rains. He said that the menace which had lived with them for decades, had defied communal efforts, hence the appeal for federal and state governments’ intervention.

The monarch lamented that erosion has washed away the pathway leading to the community’s only source of spring water, thus compounding their plight.

Eze Ijenwa also decried the deplorable condition of the community’s only access road which he said, had been a major impediment to the evacuation of agricultural produce from the agrarian community and appealed for government’s urgent intervention to save the community from further harms.

“We have seen hell because of gully erosion, and we can no longer control it. In the past, some government officials came here but after visiting us, they never did anything.

“So, we are begging Gov. Alex Otti and the Federal Government to please save us from this pending disaster. We have a serious ecological challenge that demands urgent intervention.”

We’re at the mercy of erosion—Akachi/Otammiri Estate

Residents of Akachi/Otammiri Estate in Owerri, Imo State, have also sent a desperate plea to Governor Hope Uzodimma, begging for immediate intervention to prevent a looming erosion disaster threatening to submerge their homes.

The estate, they cried out, is on the verge of devastation as gully erosion, exacerbated by overflow from the Otammiri River, continues to wreak havoc in the area.

“This is an urgent cry for help. Just like Ideato people were saved by Governor Uzodimma’s intervention on the Mgbee/Umuchima road, we need similar action here,” said Francis Chibuokwu Okehi, Chairman of the estate.

Okehi said all previous efforts by  residents to tackle the erosion were in vain, lamenting that the erosion has worsened to a scale beyond their capacity to manage.

“The erosion now requires a solid drainage system to properly channel flood waters,” he stated.

He emphasized the urgency needed, blaming the problem on lack of proper flood channels, and cautioned that “if this situation is not addressed immediately, lives and homes will be lost.”

The chairman revealed that the Akachi/Otammiri Estate road was listed among the 135 kilometres of roads slated for construction under Governor Uzodimma’s administration.

However, while many of these roads have been completed and commissioned, the 1.6 kilometre stretch in their community remains abandoned.

“This estate houses over 200 buildings and more than 15,000 residents,” Okehi explained, and expressed confidence in the Governor Uzodimma’s ability to address their plight.

“We believe that Governor Uzodimma, who has transformed urban and rural roads in Imo State, will not let us become refugees.”

We always dread rainy season—Oko residents

With the rainy season setting in, many residents of Oko Community in Orumba North Council of Anambra State say they no longer sleep with their eyes closed, due to the menacing erosion which is sweeping away many houses in the area.

Although several efforts had been made by the federal and state governments to curb the menace, it has continued to eat deeper into farmlands and houses and swallowing everything along its way.

Mr. Celestine Obika, a resident, said he had to relocate his family when the threat became frightening. According to him, the rain has only begun, but the erosion menace has already done its havoc in Oko. Landmark places threatened by erosion include the palace of the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe Laz Ekwueme and the Federal Polytechnic in the town.

According to Obika, combating gully erosion in Anambra State is beyond the state’s resources and called on the federal government and the international community to come to the aid of the community.

Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, who expressed worry over the erosion menace, had to hold town hall meetings with two communities of  Oko and Ekwulobia to find a way of reducing the devastation.

In the words of the governor: “We  have to do something to avoid Oko going into extinction. If we do not take the issue serious, we may not have Oko Community in the next 50 to 60 years to come.”

The governor did not mince words in blaming human factors in aiding erosion in most communities in Anambra State; identifying sand mining and disposal of refuse in drainages as some of them.

“Sand miners are part of the people destroying Oko. We had met before and agreed to stop it by forming a task force to check them. We have heard that sand mining is the only source of livelihood of some people in this community, but this will not continue if we must save our environment”, the governor earned.

Soludo noted that even if the entire resources of Anambra is used to fight erosion, the problem will still not be solved and called on rich individuals in the state to join hands with government to fight the menace.

We’ve resigned to fate, only God can save us—Urualla community

An indigene of Urualla in Ideato North Council Area of Imo State, Chief Gilbert Eze, said the community has resigned to fate and trusting on God to intervene in saving them from the gully erosion ravaging the area.

Chief Eze stated that indigenes of the community have been cut off from their farmlands and lost property worth millions of Nara to the erosion. He frowned that governments have abandoned them for too long, without doing anything serious about tackling the erosion menace.

Eze noted that the member for Ideato Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere has shown encouraging commitment towards tackling the erosion but wondered why the state and federal governments have failed to rescue the community.

He said: “Our hope is now in God. We are trusting God to touch their hearts to do something about this gully erosion. We can no longer access our farms, we have lost property worth millions of Nara. This problem has lingered but governments both federal and state have refused to tackle it.

“I wonder why Imo government should decide to abandon their people this way for years. Are we not part of Imo State? Are we not part of Nigeria?

“Our honourable member, Ikenga Ugochinyere is the one who comes regularly to encourage us, assuring that something will be done about the issue.”

Work on-going to tackle Umuchima gully erosion

However, Imo State Government has taken action to combat the devastating Umuchima gully erosion, a longstanding menace in Ideato South Local Government Area of the state.

This massive erosion site, stretching about two kilometers and over 100 feet deep, has for years threatened lives and properties, disrupted critical transportation routes, and crippled local economies along the Orlu-Mgbee-Umuchima-Akokwa-Uga Roa, a key federal highway linking Imo and Anambra States. This government’s intervention started in 2024, and targeted to reclaim the gully site and restore the road.

The Umuchima community, situated near the Orashi River, bears the brunt of this natural vulnerability, exacerbated by deforestation and inadequate drainage systems.

No fewer than 30 families, including that of a retired judge, reportedly lost their homes, while hundreds were displaced. Neighboring towns like Urualla, Obodoukwu, and Akokwa also suffer the impact as they could no longer enjoy the businesses hitherto done on that route. This has pushed many into poverty.

To save the people, Imo state government took full ownership of the project in 2024, and work is going on to tackle erosion, giving a ray of hope to the people in area of resuming their normal life.

Ehere residents send SOS to Abia govt over flooding

Residents of Elder James Nwolu Close, Ehere, Ogbor Hill in Aba, Abia State, have sent a Save-our-Soul message to the state government to come to their aid over the flood which is threatening to cut off the area from their neighbours.

A resident of the area, Edith Okechukwu said the flood problem which has triggered the erosion in the area started with the rehabilitation of the Ehere by pass. She explained that the flood and erosion were triggered by the indiscriminate erection of structures by land owners following the rehabilitation of the by pass.

She said they have reported the problem to the Greater Aba Development Authority, GADA, through the Obingwa Town Planning Authority, who approved the buildings and accused the agencies of indifference to their plight.

She said: “Flood is threatening to cut off Elder James Nwolu Close in Ehere, Ogbor Hill, from adjoining areas. Whenever it rains, the flood water enters our houses. It usually last two days before we could come out because the water has no where to flow to. Its natural paths have been built up.

There were no flood here, it started with the rehabilitation of the Ehere by pass in 2015. After the road was rehabilitated, they began to erect buildings indiscriminately. Natural water paths were blocked. We have appealed to the Obingwa town planning authority but they have not shown any concern.

“We are appealing to Governor Alex Otti to come to our area and fix this problem. This is a looming emergency. If nothing is done, the flood will sack all residents.”

In a Enugu State, many communities are presently threatened by endemic gully erosion. They are located mainly in Anyazum Ohom Orba in Udenu local government and there is one at Obinagu-Abia in Udi local government while the third one is at Onuiyi Alor-Uno gully erosion site in Nsukka local government area. There were others such as the erosion sites at Ngwo, Obollo Afor, Umuavulu- Abor, Ajali water works at ninth mile and Ameke Ngwo among others which have been remediated.

The former project coordinator of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP, in Enugu state, Mr. Vincent Obeta said what should be done to contain these endemic erosion problems are remediation of the affected places; vegetations of the areas, planting of trees, depending on the topography of the place.

“You know that the level of thinking amongst most of our people is to dispose refuse along waterways; they don’t think about where the water will take that rubbish to. So it is a bomb being thrown to the public,” Obeta said.

“The state government has the capability of check-mating the erosion but the projects that the present state government is handling are enormous. Today I saw more projects that I never knew that the state government embarked on and because the hands of the government are full and the resources are meager we will require external forces such as the federal government ecological fund and the European Investment Bank which now sponsors such projects other than the World Bank. The government needs external forces.”

Ebonyi State has 15 active gully erosion sites which affects various areas. The federal and state governments are  working on projects to address the problem, including interventions at locations like Alex Ekweme University Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki.