•Residents flee in droves, send SOS to govt
The inhabitants of Oko,
Local Government Area, Anambra State, are living in fear following a continuous landslide which has been ravaging a part of the community since February 18 this year. Already, many indigenes of the town whose houses have been ‘swallowed’ in the landslide have abandoned their ancestral homes to seek refuge elsewhere.
When our reporter visited the area on Wednesday, many of the residents were busy moving out of the area for fear of being consumed in another landslide that may occur at any time. Some of them told our reporter that they needed to leave the community because it had experienced the ugly development about five times since it first occurred in February, adding that no fewer than 50 houses had been consumed already.
The villagers, some of who embarked on a peaceful demonstration with placards bearing various inscriptions, appealed to the state and federal governments to come to their aid. One of the victims, Ezeokeke Josiah, said he lost money and property worth more than N7.5 million to landslide, calling on the authorities to come to the community’s aid.
The Chairman, Erosion Ecological Committee in the town, Mr. Barnabas Nwafor, described the situation as hopeless, saying there appeared to be no help in sight. He recalled that the first landslide which took place on February 18, 2012 had jolted everyone. He recalled that as at that time, residents of the area believed it was a one-off incident that would not occur again. But in six months, more than 800 metres of land had been consumed by landslide.
He attributed the phenomenon to the washing away by erosion of a big water channel constructed by the Shehu Shagari administration, which resulted in heavy flooding of the gully in the area. Nwafor also blamed sand excavation around the local government for the gully erosion that has ravaged the community for a long time.
He said: “We have written the government to send a task force to stop further excavation of sand, especially from the base around Amaokpala and Awgbu communities, but nothing has been done as sand excavators still operate between 11 pm and 4 am.”
He noted that the most ravaged part of the community was his Ezioko village, which has tried to no avail to contain the menace by forming several groups whose mission was to stop further encroachment of erosion before the last landslide occurred.
He said: “Every last Saturday of the month, the group plants trees along the erosion areas. Every family has been mandated to dig catchment pits around their compounds to trap rain water (flood). When we noticed that the water channel was being cut off by erosion, we bought about 200 bags of cement to salvage it. But our efforts yielded little or no result as the water channel was eventually cut off. Since then, the landslide has been occurring.”
He lamented that apart from the now cut off water channel constructed by the Shagari/Ekwueme regime, no other government has tried to contain the erosion menace, adding that even when the first landslide occurred, there was no government presence apart from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) which brought in some relief materials like blankets, bags of rice and beans, among others.
He, therefore, appealed to the governments to come to the community’s aid. “What we want the government to do now is just a palliative measure to stop the flood from entering the gully by channelling it elsewhere. After the first landslide, the state government came and made promises of awarding the contract. But up till now, nothing has been seen,” he said.
Nwafor recalled also that the member representing the area in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ben Nwankwo, who visited after the first landslide, expressed sympathy and promised to take it up on the floors of the House, but nothing had been heard from him.
“We have no option but to turn to the media to, at least, make our plights known to the world, especially the Federal Government and the World Bank. We feel the menace is beyond the state government, though the state can still do something to prevent further encroachment,” he stated.
Another leader in the village, Hon. Martin Ezeofor, said his prayer was for the government to come to their aid. Ezeofor added: “As things stand, our houses have been swallowed by landslide. We are sending a save-our-soul signal to the government. We have been turned into refugees in our land. Some of my kids have stopped schooling.”
He commended NEMA for the relief materials it gave to landslide victims in February. But he said that such materials were not really needed, adding that what the community needed most was the control of the flood that has caused them pains.
In his own contribution, the secretary of the village and member of the community’s Erosion Vanguard Committee, Paulinus Ezenwizube, said: “I want to appeal to the Federal Government via the state government to come to our rescue. The inhabitants of this area have become refugees in their ancestral homes. Erosion has overtaken their residence. About 50 buildings have been consumed by both erosion and landslide and many more are endangered.
“Many people have come here in the past promising that the situation would be controlled in no distant time, but nothing has been done. We are appealing through this medium for government’s intervention. We need positive action from the government.
“The village has tried on its own. Even our brothers overseas have sent in some money for more catchment pits around the area. The Federal Government should intervene. The menace is beyond the ability of the community and the state government.”
It will be recalled that the traditional ruler of Oko, Prof. Laz Ekwueme, while calling for assistance from the Federal Government and the World Bank after the first landslide in February, warned that if nothing was done before the rainy season, the problem would get worse.
He had also disclosed that the contract for the control of the erosion that probably triggered the landslide had been awarded for a long time but was abandoned for no known reasons. He decried a situation where government played politics with such an important project that affects the lives of the people directly.
He had warned that if the menace was not checked before the rainy season, many buildings would be eroded, including his ancestral home, because the abandoned drainage project that had been checking the erosion had been cut off by the landslide. The monarch’s palace sits only a few metres away from the site of the landslide.
In a related development, the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State, called for the intervention of the Federal Government to tackle the menace of erosion, which it said was threatening to wash away its extension site. The Rector, Prof. Godwin Onu, who made the appeal when Hon. Ben Nwankwo, who represents the area in the House of Representatives undertook a tour of the area, said the polytechnic did not have the wherewithal to tackle the menace.
He said the menace of erosion, which was rocking the host community, was gradually ravaging the extension site of the polytechnic. He called for government’s assistance in tackling it. Nwankwo said he would raise the issue at the House of Representatives. He commended the Rector for the judicious use of resources and his ingenuity in turning the polytechnic around.
