Onitsha appeals to State, Federal Governments to curb erosion menace

Mon, Oct 7, 2019
By publisher
3 MIN READ

Environment

THE Onitsha Improvement Union, OIU, has called on state and federal government to come to their aid over fiery gully erosion, threatening to submerge more houses on Nkisi Aroli axis, if urgent care is not taken.

Chike Ekweogwu, resident-General of the Union, made the passionate appeal during an on-the-spot assessment of the level of collapse of more houses in the area.

Among buildings visited are those of Nos 19, 20, 21, 22 and the Redeem Christian School, Off Nkisi Aroli Street off Awka Road Onitsha in the Onitsha North Local Government Area, LGA.

Ekweogwu, a knight of St. John’s International, said he was still calling on the authorities in charge of the Ecological Funding Agency, to come to the rescue of his people.

“As at the time I made my first visit, it was only a two storey buildings that were involved; since then, three other houses have been subsumed, while a fourth and fifth are about to cave in,’’ he stressed.

“If it continues like this, one will wonder, where it will end, because as the erosion is deepening and even the big drainage system erected as control channel is beginning to give way.

“There is a real threat to wipe out a sizable area by the raging gully erosion,’’ he emphasised.

Ekweogwu acknowledged a remedy might not be easy, but “I  think if the FG can invoke the Ecological Funds so that  something tangible can be achieved in checking the obvious danger to people’s life and property’’.

He lamented, that there was a school close by, where school children can be trapped if not checked.

“We are lucky no life has so far been lost, and we are praying against any form of danger; we must not to push the hands of God,’’ he said.

He enjoined the school management to relocate from the environment, in the mean time until solutions was on the way, because any heavy rain fall in Onitsha could trigger caving in of more houses.

According to 1st Vice-President of OIU, Law Akosa, about 80 per cent of houses in the area were already under the gully, while people living on erosion site have been forced to evacuate their homes.

He explained that the situation was not man-made, but a natural disaster that could happen at any time.

At Nkisi Aroli erosion site, Areh Ifeanyi, president, Onitsha South OIU, appealed to Anambra government to send officials to assess the havoc being wrecked by the erosion, with a view to contacting the federal government to get involved in provision of remedial measures.

He called on residents near the erosion site and yet to heed to the warnings of president-general to relocate to safer grounds.

Arthur Mazeli, president of Nkisi Aroli gully erosion, renewed his appeal to Government to come to their aid as according to him, all their homes and belongings have been lost under the rubble.

Owners of the three buildings most affected are the Emodi Family, Omega, Njaka and Ifeajuna.

– Oct. 7, 2019 @ 11:49 GMT |

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