BY CHIMAOBI NWAIWU

ONITSHA-OFFICERS and soldiers of the Onitsha Military Cantonment, last Saturday dropped their guns and took residents of Onitsha by surprise when they embarked on opening and clearing the blocked drainage between Blessed Iwene Tansi Major Seminary and Boromeo Hospital junction Onitsha which has been abandoned for over 13 years.

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Prior to intervention of the army, the drainage has been flooded and blocked making flow of flood water impossible and causing heavy flooding to overflow and cover the roads around the area with the attendant vehicular traffic whenever it rained.

The drainage is located close to the house of the first President of Nigeria, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

The exercise was the third by the cantonment  since 2016, as they had previously opened blocked drainages in parts of the commercial city including Onitsha- Owerri Road and Park Road, opposite Shoprite Onitsha.

The clean-up exercise which was supervised by the Commander of the 302 Artillery Regiment, Brigadier General Yakubu Bwala, saw both officers and soldiers, including the commander, joining hands to ensure that the drainages were thoroughly cleaned up and the debris thrown into the waiting trucks to be taken to dump sites.

Addressing the troop during the exercise, the Brigadier General Bwala said that “Anambra State is our host State and Onitsha is our host community and therefore, we have a duty to ensure the peoples security and welfare through making their environment clean”.

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According to him, the exercise was part of the military’s ‘Exercise Atilogwu Udo 1’ recently launched in the state. He added that free medical service of the Army Medical Outreach team has been holding in some other communities in the state, including Inyaba community, Umudim Nnewi.

The action of the soldiers attracted commendations from reisidents and passers-by who lauded them for embarking on the exercise.

Vanguard