2— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014
ANAMBRA
*Some buildings in Enuagu, Enugwu Ukwu threatened by gully erosion
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WKA—THE people of Enuagu village in Enugwu Ukwu, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State are living in fear following threat of gully erosion in the area, despite efforts by the people to check the menace. The unique problem of the community is that it is located on a place that looks like a valley at the tail end of Enugwu Ukwu town and Nibo/Nise. Recently, an indigene of the community and a student of Okutalukwe Secondary School, Enugwu Ukwu, Master Ezuno, drowned on the flood during a downpour. It was gathered that any time there was a heavy rain, people had to remain indoors for fear of being carried away by intense flood. Among buildings on the verge of being submerged by the gully erosion in the area include the multi-million All Souls Anglican Church, Herbert Nkwocha Model School and the ultra-modern country home of Mr. Dozie Nwankwo, a prominent politician in the area. There were also noticeable cracks along the community’s roads, which is an indication that the area is sitting on a keg of gun powder. In fact, Nwankwo’s home,
Fears as erosion threatens to sack Anambra community which was completed about a year ago, is sitting on the edge of a gully that is over 30 feet deep, such that the owners have become afraid to sleep in the house any time they returned to the village from their base in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Though several contractors had been engaged to save Nwankwo’s house, there is no hope that the house would be saved, About three contractors had worked on the control of the erosion behind Nwankwo’s building, but nothing has been achieved after huge amount of money had been spent on it. All Souls Church, a church building under construction is just on the edge of a massive gully erosion, even as work was going on when South East Voice visited. The resident priest, Rev Cosmas Diugwu, appealed for quick intervention by government to save the building. He said though members of the church had tried to check it by planting
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BY VINCENT UJUMADU
When many people no longer slept in their homes for fear of their houses sinking into the erosion at night, we had to write to the state government to come to our rescue, but to date, we have not received any response
trees and constructing culverts, all the trees have been washed away, thereby, exposing the new building to danger. Conducting South East Voice round the community, the chairman of Enuagu Village, Vincent Oguno, said though his people have been battling to control the erosion over the years, nothing much could be achieved because of the speed at which the erosion spread. He said that because the village is sitting on more or less a valley, all the flood from the entire Enugwu Ukwu and Nawfia empty into Enuagu,
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leading sometimes to residents of the area abandoning their homes to take refuge in other parts of Enugwu Ukwu. He said that part of the measures adopted by the community was the planting of bamboo trees and filling the gully with stones and sharp sands, regretting that the efforts had even come to naught as the trees planted in the area have also been washed away. His words: “Many years ago, the community engaged in self help water project, but after spending millions of naira on the project, erosion
washed the structures away with the result that the community lacks potable water. “When many people no longer slept in their homes for fear of their houses sinking into the erosion at night, we had to write to the state government to come to our rescue, but to date, we have not received any response.” According to him, the erosion became worse during the reconstruction of the old Onitsha-Awka road. He said the contractor failed to channel the flood properly as the flood water usually come into Enuagu village. Another indigene of the area, Evangelist C.B. Okafor said people of the area could not resist the temptation to build houses close to erosion sites because of lack of land. He said that what used to be the community’s farmland had to be abandoned because flood from other communities flow down to Enuagu, with its attendant devastation on crops.