Among residents of Alibioba community in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, the slightest hint of rain is a source of anxiety and great trepidation.
Surely, the residents are aware of the many benefits associated with plentiful rain to an agrarian community like theirs, but their dread stems largely from the dangers posed by a carvenous gully bisecting the entire community.
Alibioba community hugs the slopes at a midway point between Agbor-Obi and Orogodo River along the ever busy Benin-Onitsha Expressway.
The main road that leads into the community is muddy, winding, untarred and riddled with gully-like potholes.
However, this glaring infrastructural deficit is the least of Alibioba’s problem a more pressing and immediate danger is that posed by surging floodwaters in the community which routinely claim lives when it rains.
To further heighten the fears of parents, their children of school age attending Alibioba Primary School and Agbor Technical College daily commute over the rickety makeshift foot bridges placed at strategic points over a 100-feet deep gully.
Judging from the poor quality of materials used in constructing the bridges, residents of this community, including children, are daily flirting with death.
Another source of fear gripping parent is the proximity of Alibioba Primary School’s entrance to the gully. This, The Nation gathered, had prompted some parents to withdraw their children from the school.
Last week, their fears came to pass as floods swept away two teenage brothers, Testimony Okwuokenye (15) and Godwin Okwuokenye (11) following a downpour.
Testimony was a JSS 1 student of Agbor Technical College, while his younger sibling was a Primary 5 pupil of Alibioba Primary School whose fences were close to the gully.
According to community sources, the flood had claimed many lives with many injured in the last five years.
The grieving couple sat close to each other on two wooden benches at the veranda of their bungalow on a cold, wet morning. They were being consoled by a sympathiser; they were obviously unable to make sense of the tragedy that has just befallen them.
The father of the victims, Pastor Godday Okwuokenye, who is a minister of a Pentecostal church in Agbor, said he had a premonition of the tragedy two months earlier, adding that he embarked on prayer sessions for divine intervention.
According to him, he said: “About two months back while in a dream on my way to church, my Bible and sword fell into the gully, but I dived into the raging water and retrieved them. When I woke up, we prayed about it only for this to happen.”
Speaking further, “That day, Thursday, I went to our garden with my children, Testimony and Godwin. When we discovered that the weather was changing, threatening to rain, we rushed home. When we got home, it was already drizzling and I instructed them to place basins to harvest rain water for domestic use.
“Then, I went into my room, prayed and decided to lie down on the bed. That was how I slept off. A few minutes later, I heard some knocks on the door and when I opened, the boy, who was knocking said to me: “Sir, are you the father of Testimony? I said “Yes”. Then, he said flood hadcarried both of them.
“He said Godwin, my younger son, fell into the gutter and Testimony, the elder one, in a bid to rescue him, dived in, but the flood swept away.
“When I heard this, I quickly rushed out to the scene. But at Uromi Junction axis, I found a crowd of rescue team who had rescued one of them. I quickly rushed him to the hospital because he was still warm; but doctors at the Central Hospital, Agbor, confirmed that he was already dead.
“The second boy was discovered this morning (penultimate Friday) and he was also already dead.”
His wife, Mrs Abundance Okwuokenye, appealed to the government at all levels to urgently solve the problem the gully poses to the community.
Responding to a question, Mrs Okwuokenye, said: “We had a pastors wives retreat at the Church of God Mission Headquarters in Benin- City when the incident occurred. I was brought back to Agbor where this sad news was broken to me. To say I am devastated is an understatement. I am trying to gather the pieces of my shattered life together. I am not coping. Things can never be the same again. These boys often stayed in our bedroom late every night before they went to bed. Every morning, we usually had morning prayer session together, but now we are doing it without them. I am not coping. No mother should be allowed to go through this pain that I am passing through because of a gully.”
Continuing, she said: “I am begging government to do something, not just when they like; but to pay immediate attention to solving the problem. How did you feel when you crossed that makeshift bridge on your way here? Yet, that was where our children crossed everyday on their to school. The schools are at risk. If they do not come immediately to our aid, what happened to me will reoccur. This gully is taking the lives of our children; we cannot take this any longer.”
Apart from the threat to lives, homes near the gully are in dread of it. Many nervous landlords are in despair seeing their homes perched precariously on the edge of the gully.
Sunday Ofiri, 28, lives in a twin apartment flat with his aged parents on the edge of the gully.
He said his family packed into the house eight years ago. He fears that with the relentless widening of the gully, his father’s house will soon as disappear into the gully.
As a result, Ofiri said his family have since moved to a rented apartment and only make short visits to the house. He said all their tenants have left.
He said: “This gully erosion menace is a big blow to us. When we packed in, the vehicle that brought our belongings actually parked on the gully, meaning that this gully did not exist eight years ago. We have abandoned this home. We only come here once in a while and stay only for one week. During the rains, we barely live here. Our children are permanently locked inside the house for fear of falling into the gully”.
He appealed to the government for help as many landlords are retirees who built their homes during their active years.
The chairman of the community’s Landlords Association, Chukwuyem Odia, said the community is in “deep pain” over the loss of ” two of their sons” and appealed for intervention from the Delta State government and federal authorities.
His words: “We are in great pain because of this gully erosion. We have been to the local government council; they say it is beyond them. We call on government, both at state and federal levels, to come to our aid. There is a primary school behind us; most parents have withdrawn their children from the school. Last week, we lost two sons; we are in deep pain.”
He said despite assurances from the lawmaker representing Ika South, Hon. Festus Okoh, nothing has been done to alleviate their problems, but he expressed optimism that the state government will intervene.
The Chief Inspector of Education, Ika South, Mr Ariwojo Ezeh, who was on a condolence visit to the family with an entourage, expressed shock at the death of the boys.
His words: “It is shocking news and that is why we are here to commiserate with the family. The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education exists only because of children. So, we are deeply pained. This is unfortunate; we feel sad”.
Responding to a question on the proximity of the primary school to the gully, he said: “Having seen the proximity of the school to the gully, I will have to report to my bosses in Asaba.”
“We educate school heads on the need to take issues of flooding and security seriously whether they are in the curriculum or not as these are practical realities of life, “he said.
He said an enlightenment campaign was on to educate school heads on the need to take issues like flooding and security seriously