From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Some communities in Cross River State have raised the alarm over the menace of erosion, calling on the Federal Government to come to their rescue.
The communities, including Ikot Nkebre, Atakpa, Edim Otop, Ikot Ekpo, Ikot Anwatim, Ikot Uduak, Ikot Enebong, Nyanghasang, LEMNA/Agric Quarters and Etimakim in Calabar Municipality, have been ravaged by erosion for over a decade.
A visit to Nyagsang, in Edim Otop, and Etimakim communities tells a story of despair and hopelessness, as residents recount the challenges of the communities over the years due to ravaging gullies.
While about eight houses have been so far destroyed by erosion in Nyagsang, over 10 buildings are under threat of destruction in Etimakim community.
The most affected is Etimakim community, in Akim axis. Checks by Daily Sun showed that the 3km Ring Road project with side drainage, one of the constituency projects attracted to the area by the member representing the area in the National Assembly, has been completely cut into two due to ravaging erosion. The erosion has not only paralysed economic activities, but is also endangering the lives of hundreds of residents within Akim community.
Some of the residents recounted that they live in fear, especially during the rainy season, as the gullies have continued to deepen. They lamented that, on several occasion, some cars have plunged into the gully and some occupants sustained severe injuries.
A resident of Akim, Emmanuel Asuquo, said the erosion site has eaten deep into the Ring Road and, if not tackled, would begin to swallow houses, adding that, in the last 15 years, the community has tried to check it with bags of sand to curb the widening gully.
Village head of Etimakim, in Calabar Municipality, Esinjo Ekong Edim, while appealing to the Federal Government and its agencies to complete the Mbora Ring Road to avert a massive erosion that is building up in the area, said the community was building up to being a hub of some foodstuff in Calabar metropolis.
Speaking on behalf of the paramount ruler of Calabar Municipality when the member representing Calabar Municipality/Odukpani Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon. Eta Mbora, visited the project site in Akim, Esinjo Ekong said erosion had turned the road to a death trap.
The village head commended Mbora for facilitating the intervention project in the area, which he said has made life easier for the people, but pleaded that the project should be completed so that it may not erode the good thing government has done for the people.
He said: “As it is, everybody within the area is happy about the job that has been done so far 80 per cent of the road has been cut off due to menacing erosion, especially from up Mbora Street to Akim Market road.
“So, we are appealing to the Federal Government that, having intervened thus far, it remains a very small portion of the job to be completed.”
At the affected Nyagasang community, a resident, Mr. Micheal Akpan, said over 100 residents in the area have been displaced from their ancestral homes due to ravaging erosion in the area, adding that the gully has eaten deep into the area and it is beginning to pull down houses.
Another resident, Mr. Umoh Umoh, who said he has lived in the area for over 30 years, noted that there was no ravine in the area in the early stage, and when the ravine started building up, the community had to plant bamboo trees to curb the widening of the ravine.
“We have written countless letters to them as well as the Niger Delta Development Commission, NEWMAP and they keep assuring us that they will come and work on it but we are yet to see them and this problem has been deteriorating over the years.
“The menace has affected us severely and whenever it rains, we live in fear and cannot stay in our houses because we are afraid of being washed up into the ravine. We are happy that NEWMAP has started to intervene.”
Expressing concerns on the number of erosion sites in his constituency, the member representing Calabar Municipality and Odukpani Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon. Eta Mbora, said he wad profiling all the affected erosion sites in the communities and promised to facilitate the completion of the already awarded erosion-prone sites and some access roads on these communities.