Households, businesses threatened by erosion in Delta Community

…Community appeals to FG, state govt for intervention

Landlords, residents and business owners in Ogbeozoma Community in Okpanam town, Oshimili North Local Government Area, Delta State, are calling for urgent government intervention to save their families, households and businesses from ravaging gully erosion in the area.

Ogbeozoma is a prominent and highly populated community located in Okpanam and falls within the Asaba Capital Territory of the state. The community is currently a focal point due to significant infrastructure challenges and major ongoing commercial land developments.

In an interview with journalists, Thursday, the people lamented the danger gully erosion poses to their lives, houses and businesses, adding that the foundations of their buildings are currently being threatened.

They expressed fear that if no action is taken soon, most buildings would be pulled down sooner than expected, adding that their lives are also being threatened by the gully erosion.

According to the people, their businesses, schools, recreational and hospitality centres, hotels and rented apartments have lost their values and are being abandoned for fear of the ravaging gully erosion in the area.

Augustina Agba, a trader in the area, lamented low patronage and total abandonment. Even the blind know and can feel it that the community is no longer habitable, but as landlords, “we have nowhere to run to”, she stated.

“My husband, a civil servant, had borrowed and is still paying back the loan to his cooperative society, the money used to build our house, which today is under threat of gully erosion.

“We have no place to run to. This is why we are calling on both the federal and state governments to come to our aid before the unexpected happens.

“Only a timely intervention can save us. When we came to this place to build, the environment was safe and secured from an active flood, but today, it is a different thing”.

She recalled that the landlord association had intervened several times to arrest the situation until it overwhelmed them.

Tony Nwabueze, a Cement Dealer, said he has almost closed up business in the community due to redundancy.

“The people are no longer demanding for cement, they have stopped building and suspended all on-going housing projects in the area due to lack of access to the project sites.

“As you can see, the gully has taken the center of the road running down over three kilometres and making it impossible for residents and landlords to drive into their apartments and houses.

“It is even worse for anyone with a health challenge or for anyone having a health emergency.

“The victim may die before getting to the spot where a bike (commercial motorcycle) can take them to another spot where a Keke(tricycle) or car to take them to a health facility. The situation is that bad,” he lamented.

Nnwabueze appealed to concerned authorities to intervene quickly to save their soul.

On his part, Johnson Omoni, a landlord, described the situation as unfortunate and, saying the gully erosion has totally taken the middle of the road and ran down the long stretched road such that every building had a wooden bridge across the road to the entrance to their house.

“As you can see, every building has a plank (wooden) bridge at the front to enable the people to access their houses.

“It is life threatening whenever it rains because of the strength and the force exerted by the flood waters in the gully is so heavy to pull down the bridge and kill anyone on the bridge.

“We have had an incident where a mother and child were swept off the bridge but for timely intervention, they were saved from being drowned in the flood.

“This gully is deep enough to take trucks and sink a tipper. Its depth is more than 10 feet high. So, it is a danger already happening to us here. We are praying for God to touch the government to help us,” Omoni said.

On his part, Mr Samson Kenechi, a member of the landlord association, explained that the Delta Government has shown concern on the issue and had paid a certain amount as “counterpart fund”.

He said the counterpart fund was meant to attract additional funds from the European Investment Bank (EIB), Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) to address gully erosion challenge in the area.

“As an association, we have had fruitful meetings with the NEWMAP and government officials. They assured us that the challenge would be addressed.

“We wish to appeal to the federal and state governments to come to our aid and save us from the devastating gully erosions in our community,” Kenechi said.