Flood threatens 3 communities in Abia
Many families have been rendered homeless in three villages of Umuahia South local government area of Abia State due to heavy flooding in the area.
Similarly, many other buildings in the villages are currently on the verge of collapse, while others are under serious threat.
The affected communities are in Umuekwea, Umuokwasa and Umunwanwa under Ndogo autonomous community.
South East Trust observed that some of the affected buildings included ancestral homes and other residential buildings. Many farms were also destroyed by gully erosion, which is fast eating deep into other parts of the villages.
In past years it was common to see families abandoning their homes whenever it rained because their homes lay within gully erosion sites that were up to 100 feet deep.
South East Trust gathered that in many communities, the floods were constantly creating gullies in areas that hitherto did not have such problems.
The residents revealed that the large number of erosion sites seen in many communities started as small holes and later developed into big ones.
Ndogo community, autonomous in Umuahia
South, sits on the midst of an old gully that threatens its existence every rainy season. Like most communities with similar environmental challenges, the gully, by all indications, is far beyond the scope and capacity of the community to control.
Past efforts by the community to check the menace had not helped in addressing the problem. From piling of sand-filled bags and stones to channeling of the water and planting Indian bamboo and trees, the residents said they had ran out of ideas on how to control the menace.
The Catholic priest of the area, Rev.Fr. Christian Uche Anokwuru, attributed the problem to the soil texture of the land.
He traced the history of the gully erosion sites to the abandoned NDDC Umuwanwa road, which was awarded over a decade ago. He said the state of the road led to the various gullies in the community.
“We are farmers in Ndogo autonomous community, and today we can’t access the road to sell our produce. We have also lost our streams, we can’t drink good water again because the erosion has taken the streams away. Our source of water is no longer there we go to far communities to get water,’’ he told South East Trust.
He said many members of the community have died on their way to the nearest medical facility in the area because of the inaccessible road.
“We are calling on NDDC and Ecological Fund Office to help us. Ngodo is no longer a safe place, we have no government presence here.’’
He said the Bishop of Umuahia Diocese had approved the establishment of a monastery in the area but the workers were forced to relocate to Ugwueke in Bende local government area because of the bad state of the roads.
``The Bishop later approved the building to be used as a clinic to help the people, but it could not be put to use because of lack of access road to the place.
“We have piling sand-filled bags and stones as well as channeling the water and planting Indian bamboo and trees to stop the menace but the gullies are just beyond what the community can handle,’’ he said.
Also speaking the traditional ruler of Ngodo autonomous community, Eze Stephen Ihuoma said the gully erosion has brought untold hardship on the community as farmlands have been destroyed.
He also noted that most of their roads have been cut off including the only road leading to Ngodo.
He pointed out that though there were some palliative measure the member representing Umuahia / Ikwuano Federal constituency did on the sites but it could not withstand the pressure from the erosion.
The monarch called on the federal government to come to their aid as the situation is beyond both the community and the state government .
A community leader, Chief Francis Achilefu, who also serves as the chairman of the works committee of the community, said many people had fled their homes to take refuge in neighbouring communities.
He also appealed to the NDDC, state and federal governments to come to their rescue before the community is ``totally wiped out’’.