More than 10 houses have been swallowed by massive gully erosion in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, leaving scores of people internally displaced.
In a bid to address the crisis, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, on Wednesday led officials of the Ecological Project Office including the Director, Soil and Erosion Flood Control, B’aba Bomoi to the sites in Uzuakoli and Ozuitem communities for an emergency assessment of the affected areas.
Residents say the number of destroyed homes has continue to rise weekly as the rains persist, with the streets and farmlands collapsing into widening gullies.
The erosion is also threatening the residence of the Special Assistant on State Affairs in the Office of the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Ikenna Ariwodo and many others.
In a statement released on Wednesday signed by Levinus Nwabughiogu, Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, said Kalu who described the situation as “a matter of urgent public importance,” called on National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Ecological Project Office to intervene immediately, stressing that the disaster has overwhelmed the capacity of the state government.
Speaking at the site in Uzuakoli, the Deputy Speaker who represents Bende Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives said he had much earlier in the term submitted an application to the Ecological Office through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation when the erosion was less severe.
He explained that the erosion now spans over 4 to 5 kilometers and requires a fresh assessment and a much larger federal intervention.
He said: “I want to first thank the federal government for creating ecological funds office. It is under the presidency. I am sure the ecological funds office was created in view of issues that have affected mainly the South East, because we are the ecological headquarters or erosion headquarters of the world.
“Honestly speaking, I came here about two or three years ago, it was not this massive. When I made the application to the ecological funds office, it was not as big as this.
“To be honest, the amount I was asking for to solve this will be a far cry from what would be used in solving this. In fact, it is about twenty times over what I had projected when I laid that application two or three years ago.
“We have to do a reassessment of what this has become and find a way of giving a lasting solution to it. I know the capacity of your office to handle this,” he told the visiting team.
Kalu thanked the Ecological Office for its prompt response, noting that the visit followed a meeting held in his office with the Permanent Secretary in the project office.
“This is not what a state can do. I know many people have been saying the state government should come and intervene. I think this is beyond the state. Here, we can partner with the state, but this is a federal government project. If we really want to do it and do it well, we need the federal government presence here”, he said.
He recalled how a similar intervention was secured for Nkpa for which a bridge was later built during the Buhari administration after he moved a motion on June 13, 2019, expressing optimism that President Bola Tinubu’s government which graciously approved the establishment of the South East Development Commission (SEDC) and two tertiary institutions in Bende will do the same for Uzuakoli and Ozuitem erosion menaces.
Touring other affected areas in Ozuitem with the technical team from the Ecological Office to determine the scope of damage, Kalu lamented that the South East bears the brunt of ecological disasters in Nigeria.
He urged immediate action to prevent further loss of homes and displacement, stressing that the current situation is far worse than what was captured in the initial application.
“This is affecting mainly the South East. We are counting on the federal government, counting on Mr. President to see this as a real need of our people,” the Deputy Speaker added.
In his remarks, Director Bomoi who led the technical team of the Office bemoaned the situation, stressing that it is life threatening.
“This one is quite threatening, not only to the environment, not only to the property, even lives. And if you can look at it now the encroachment has already taken over almost the entire farmland”, he said.
It will be recalled that the women from the affected communities recently staged a mass protest, demanding urgent government intervention.
The Ecological Funds team is expected to submit its assessment report to guide federal government intervention.
