From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
Many indigenes of Ogwuma Edda in Afikpo South Local Government, Ebonyi State, are currently living in fears. This followed the collapse of mass of earth in the area on July 1, 2022.
The natural occurrence buried some houses and destroyed 15 others, while 38 families were rendered homeless. A human skull and several ancestral items were exhumed from beneath the earth as graves were not spared.
A large portion of Edda sits on the hills and with the mountainous topography, many settlements there are on the cliff.
Edda’s youth leader, Evans Anya, told our reporter that many families retrieved their property and abandoned their buildings when they started noticing a tremble ahead of the landslide.
He disclosed that the people had experienced a similar occurrence in 2007, which destroyed 15 houses and rendered almost 50 families homeless when the road that passes across the village was under construction.
He said residents experienced some tremble in June 2021, but no significant damage was recorded: “We noticed a tremble in our homes and on Thursday, June 30, 2022, after a downpour that lasted over two hours.
“The cracks on our walls became wider. That was how the problem continued until the fateful day when the land began to shift. In the process pulled down the existing retaining walls and fell across the road.”
He said though his one-storey building did not collapse but the fear over the enormous cracks seen in all parts of the structure could not allow his family of seven to go back to the house: “Due to the signs which were earlier noticed, we had evacuated our families and taken our valuables to the neighbouring villages before it eventually collapsed. Now, we are looking for assistance from the government and good-spirited individuals.”
Mrs Grace Elekwa, a victim, said: “The incident which destroyed my building of five different apartments has made my entire family homeless. To aggravate the situation, all the economic trees in the compound were also buried. How can I start life afresh at this old age?”
Another victim, Mrs Mercy Enwuruefu, who equally lost her compound to the disaster disclosed that she had never experienced such situation since she got married in that village.
Like Anya, Enwuruefu and Elekwa who are currently taking refuge in their neighbouring compounds also appealed for help from both government and good-spirited people.
Daily Sun gathered that economic activities in the area were also disrupted by the event. Chairman, Okada Riders Association, Osisioma branch, Ogbu Jacob Ewa, said the only access road to the village was blocked by mass of earth: “It was in our effort to make the village accessible to some extent that I mobilised some of our members who engaged themselves in manual work with hoes, shovels and spades, to see if we can level a little portion where pedestrians can carefully pass before boarding motorcycles to other parts of the community.”
Traditional ruler of Umunna Autonomous Community, Ezeogo Dickson Okorie, who confirmed that the area had experienced similar disaster in the time past also called on the government at all levels to come to their aid.
He also appealed for assistance from political office holders from the council area on behalf of the displaced persons to enable the people have shelters for themselves: “The problem is beyond the community’s strength as the value of all the property run in millions of naira. That is why we are requesting for help from outside our community.”
State Coordinator of Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), Dr Philip Echiegu could not speak to Daily Sun.