Abia Community lives in fear as erosion swallows two-storey building

*Lawmaker makes case for FG’s intervention

From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia

Palpable fear has gripped the people of Amaewu, Umueze, Amamba Uzuakoli in Bende local government of Abia State as a gully erosion affecting the area has “gulped” a two-storey building and a four-bedroom bungalow.

This has prompted the lawmaker representing the community to cry out to the federal government to intervene urgently to save the entire community from being washed away. As the indigenes said that the gully has defied solutions worth several millions of naira in tackling the erosion menace.

The member representing Bende South State Constituency in Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Emmanuel Chinedu Ndubuisi, told newsmen that an indigene of the community living abroad has lost his 2-storey building to the erosion menace in spite of frantic remediation efforts to bring the ferociously advancing gully under control.

The lawmaker also added that the community has consistently made efforts to change the course of the gully site to no avail, leading to the collapse of another 4-bedroom bungalow.

According to him, he reached out to the NEWMAP who came and gave their expert advice, a step that has been followed to no avail.

The lawmaker who expressed fears that the erosion would  was away more buildings in the community unless there was urgent ecological remediation measures, revealed that that the community has commenced a fresh palliative work, following an advice by NEWMAP team to mitigate the flood impact.

“NEWMAP team advised that the community should do drainage down to the river so that more buildings will not be threatened but I don’t know if the money available to the community now can do that.

“What we want to do now is to use a kind of sand bags to slow down the speed of the flood so that the devastation will reduce, which the engineers told us will reduce the devastation,” he said.

On interventions from lawmakers representing the people at the National Assembly, Hon. Ndubuisi said member representing Bende Federal Constituency, Rep. Benjamin Kalu and the Senator representing Abia North, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, were aware of the challenges of the people.

According to him, only the state government has intervened through NEWMAP, saying efforts were ongoing to get other agencies of government for their intervention.

Describing the site as a gigantic project, he said the problem was ecological-related which the federal lawmakers, through the federal government could help to solve, adding it could not be resolved locally without the intervention of the federal government, using ecological fund.