Environment
RESIDENTS of the Ukwu-Mango area near the Ife-Obara basin in Aba, Abia, have appealed to the state government to save them from disaster resulting from a failed pump at the basin.
Akuchi Egbe, a resident of the area said the flooding of the area had persisted for many years but escalated with the overflowing of the Ife-Obara Basin following many days of downpour.
She said the 5.6-kilometer drainage system Abia government built at Ife-Obara Basin to pump stormwater from the Ariaria area to the Aba river has stopped functioning, adding that weeds have overgrown in the entire basin.
Egbe said the businesses of residents had crumbled due to a lack of patronage from their customers.
Another resident, Mr Moses Igwe, told NAN that they had done their best to tackle the flood in their own way, but added that the situation had overwhelmed them.
He said that the flood sacked many families, submerged homes, and made it extremely difficult for families to even come out from their homes after rains.
“From Omuma road, the abattoir at Old Express, down to Francis Street, Olumba Street and the whole of this Ukwu Mango, no place is safe from flooding, we are living in a disaster zone.
“The Ife-Obara Basin government always talks on the radio of pumping water to Aba river; there nothing like pumping water from here to Aba river.
“If there’s anything government can sincerely do to save us from the bad situation let them do it because people are already running away from their homes here”, he said.
Charity Ilomuanya, another resident stressed that the flood around the area was destroying their means of livelihood and their houses and property.
“Residents are losing the important property to flood each time it rains and the situation has made us hopeless.
“We don’t know what is going to happen tonight when the next rain comes. There is an ECWA church at Olumba Street, go there now, nobody even comes there to worship again.
“It has been submerged since the rain started and the flood has destroyed almost everything inside there. I plead with the Abia government to please come and save us because we have suffered enough here,” she said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Abia government had in 2017 reconstructed the basin with a pump in the bid to collect stormwater from the Ariaria area, move it to Ife-Obara, and then to Aba river but the pump failed. (NAN)
– Jun. 25, 2020 @ 15:15 GMT |
Tags: Flood: Aba residents appeal to Gov. Ikpeazu for assistance
