Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
Residents of Adol Awam Street in Mbukobe area of Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, have complained about the stench oozing out from a poultry farm situated opposite Xeme Suites Hotel in Abakaliki.
The residents have complained that the odour from the poultry house has made life unbearable for them, adding that some residents have been forced to relocate from the area because of the stench.
They called on the government of Chief David Umahi to intervene in order to save them from potential danger to health posed by the air pollution from the farm.
The poultry house is adjacent to the Chidimma Hospital at Adol Awam street.
A resident of the area and Manager of the Xeme Suite Hotel, Mr George Moore Ogbonna, lamented that the odour from the poultry farm has affected his business, saying customers are beginning to avoid his hotel because of the offensive odour emanating from the farm.
“For two months now, the residents of Adol Awam Street have been living with great discomfort as a result of the odour from the poultry house. My customers and workers have been complaining bitterly that this place is no longer habitable,” Mr Ogbonna told Daily Sun.
“We have tried to approach the owner of the poultry house without success. Other neighbours said efforts to reason with the owner had also failed. The poultry farm has been a source of discomfort to all residents including children.”
In a reaction, the state Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Mr Uchenna Orji, told newsmen that the governor had directed the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Emmanuel Uguru, to urgently look into the matter.