Boniface Okoro in Umuahia
Fear, tears, and helplessness have taken over five communities in Uzuakoli, Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, as a monstrous gully erosion threatens to wipe out villages.
The affected communities-Amamba, Ngwu, Amankwo, Agbozu and Eluama – are bleeding. In Eluama, even the Dodds Memorial Methodist Cathedral now hangs dangerously on the edge, waiting to cave in.
For eight years, the gully has grown to over seven kilometres. It has already buried three two-storey buildings, four bungalows, swallowed hectares of farmland, destroyed economic trees, and rendered families homeless. Dozens more buildings are standing on borrowed time.
Yesterday, anguished men, women, and youths converged on their village square carrying placards and weeping openly, while some women rolled on the ground in despair.
Some of their SOS messages from them read: ‘We have lost our farmlands to gully erosion’; ‘We have lost our future to erosion’; ‘Uzuakoli in Bende LGA needs help’; ‘Further delay will be disastrous’; ‘This erosion is a monster. Please help us’; and “Governor Alex Otti, hear our cry.”
“Our dear Ekwueme of Abia.”
President-General of Ohabuike Amamba, Sir Nelson Umezurike, said the area was once a thriving residential zone until bad drainage channels from the construction of two roads turned it into a death trap.
“As a community, we have not kept quiet. When it started, we mobilized over N7 million for palliative work. Within two weeks, a flood swept it away.
“In 2019, after seven buildings collapsed, we raised over N60 million again. The same flood came and swallowed our investment,” he said.
In total, the PG said the people have spent over N67 million with nothing to show. Every concrete wall they built was washed away.
“We are appealing to federal, state and local governments that this is beyond us. Come before we are completely displaced,” Umezurike pleaded.
He called specifically on Governor Alex Otti, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, and the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, noting that they had visited and done some palliative work in the past.
“We are also appealing to the Ecological Fund Office, the National Assembly, and the Abia State House of Assembly to treat this as a matter of urgent attention,” adding that the community has set up a rehabilitation centre for victims, while others have fled to the township.
While narrating her story, tearful Chisaraokwu Onyebuchi Onyeanusi recounted how her father’s three-storey building collapsed into the gully in 2017. “I was inside when it happened. I ran for my life. I lost everything. I am living like a refugee now,” she sobbed.
The PG revealed that agencies, including NEWMAP and even EU experts, have assessed the site, but “years have passed and nothing has been done. Maybe they want this erosion to swallow us completely before they come.”
