By Emmanuel Ndukuba
The gully erosion ravaging Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra state which started on one sleepy night in 2019, has thrown the community into a serious ecological disaster.
Thus, no life has been lost so far, but over 30 buildings, 200,000 persons homeless and property worth billions of naira have been lost by the community within three years of the gully erosion menace.
The massive erosion site at Obeleagu Street and Nkisi-Aroli Street in Onitsha Inland town has caused alarming panic among the inhabitants of the community since 2020 when it became fully blown.
Government’s urgent intervention is needed immediately to ameliorate the people in the affect area from further losses and even deaths, God forbids.
Already destroyed completely are two churches, a school, shops and residential buildings with property worth billions of naira.
This is raining reason, the residents of the affected area are living in confusion, helpless and begging for both Federal and state governments urgent intervention.
Our Correspondent, who visited the site, gathered that the disaster which became full blown in September 2020 after a heavy downpour when a-three-storey building constructed close to the gully at Nkisi-Aroli Street, suddenly caved in and since then the erosion keep expanding.
More buildings have submerged after the first, and the affected people vacated the area in sorrows with their belongings.
A septuagenarian and retired educationist, Onwa Hilary Chukwudobe, who is also the most threatened, said he had suffered in the past three years over the erosion threat.
“I thank God that I am surviving, and I thank the government the much they have done, but as you can see the calamity is not over yet, until it is over.
“With the assistance, not by my power but the goodwill of people around me. I thanked our monarch, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe and the town union Leadership for the patronage we received, the relief items when available.
“Government has tried by diverting the water chanel from the main erosion gully site because in front of my house is a water pool, it has been controlled, but it is yet to be sealed, that is our only concern now,” the above 75 years old senior citizen said.
Another resident of the area, Amechi Egbunike urged the state government to rescue them from the erosion gully without further delay.
“We want proactive measure, not political promises earlier made by the past administrations in the state,” he said.
The President-General of Onitsha Improvement Union (OIU), Sir Chike Ekweogwu told our Correspondent that the erosion started late 2019 and manifested in 2020.
“Since then we have approached various arms of government, including Anambra state government to come to our aid.
“Our monarch, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe has done a lot too using his influence, at a time the then Minister of State for Environment, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor as well as officials of Anambra state government under the former governor, Dr Willie Obiano visited the site.
“Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) officials and even former Gov. Obiano was here too to look at it. He had some compassion and put up a palliative measure to channel a new gutter into Nkisi River.
“It locked off the other end from Obeleagu Street to Aroli Street, so that has minimized the continuous erosion in the area. He promised that for effective use of the channel, Nkisi River would be stilted.
“However, because the water don’t flow normal anymore, and you know our people with their land speculation attitude, they have encroached on it and Nkisi River begins to be eroded.
“People are beginning to re-channel it, and you know that water will always find its cause and that is where we are today, even the palliative that was done, it begins to crack because it was not properly cast,” Ekweogwu said.
He appealed to Gov. Soludo to help complete the palliative started by his predecessor, and then stilt Nkisi River so that it becomes a free flowing stream.
The President-General also appealed to both the federal and state governments to help finance gully erosion close up, adding that the community would not be able to finance the project.
