Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
A major landslide has occurred in Odi in Kolokuma/Opokuma local government of Bayelsa State, destroying houses.
Community sources said the landslide believed to have been caused by water erosion, occurred on Sunday. It threw the community into mourning because of the number of houses and property that were destroyed.
Investigations revealed that the Chief Whip of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon Tonye, Emmanuel Isenah, who is from the community, has briefed relevant authorities in the state over the incident.
Isenah during his visit was said to have been jolted by the level of damage caused by the landslide which left many people homeless.
He called on the Federal and state governments and other relevant government agencies to come to the aid of the people that have lost their property.
A source in the community who pleaded anonymity said the residents were lucky that the incident did not occur in the night when they were sleeping as that could have been a lot more disastrous.
“It is one of the many challenges faced by riverine communities. It started at about 7am as earth tremor and two hours later, the ground gave way causing houses in the area to begin to collapse. Thank God no life was lost.”
Wenipire Digifa, who is also from the community, expressed sadness over the incident which he blamed on the water erosion now posing a big threat to the community.
He pleaded with the Federal government to come to the aid of the people of Odi to save them from imminent tragedy as the community was now posed to various environmental factors.
Digifa who disclosed that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) awarded many contracts to tackle the environmental problems of Odi community, lamented that the contracts were not executed and the contractors are nowhere to be found.