Possible Insight

No fewer than 37 buildings stand precariously at the brink of collapse, owing to the activities of gully erosion in a section of Umudagu Mbieri, widely known as Works Layout, Owerri, in the Imo State capital. Residents are on the verge of being sacked from their homes, while houses and landed property are speedily being washed away by the rampaging erosion. Though, most roads and streets in Umudagu Mbieri and Works Layout are gradually being eroded out of existence, one of the most thoroughly battered neighbourhoods in the area, is the Chief Sara Oguh Street. The street stretches from opposite the Orji Mechanic Village, just in between eHara Filling Station and Liberty Plaza along Spibat New Road, Owerri down to the road connecting Amakohia – Spibat Road. The story is the same and as tragic, on the road starting from Iwene Tansi Catholic Church, Mechanic Village Orji, off Spibat road, down the slopey road to Rapour Junction. The long stretch of road measuring about 700 meters was literally shut down midway by the activities of gully erosion which converted a busy neighbourhood road into an emergency close.

Extent of damage

Same disaster, which has been threatening the area since 2009, has now assumed a larger dimension and have particularly taken over Chief Sara Ogu Streets and other adjoining streets within Works Layout. Though, no life has been lost so far, but over 170 families have been forced to leave their homes. The erosion has also destroyed the culverts that connected the street to other streets in the area, destroying property running into hundreds of millions of naira. It was gathered that the situation has created fear among residents of adjoining streets as the erosion continues to eat deeper into other streets and houses with each heavy rain. When our reporter visited the area, the embattled residents were in a state of confusion and helplessness. Residents of the area especially some civil servants who were able to acquire land in the area to build their own house, have been passing their days in panic.

Structures affected

Most gigantic edifices which hitherto housed many tenants, are almost crumbling into the deep craters created by the erosion. Most houses in the area are currently inaccessible even by foot as very deep gullies have emerged on the road, cutting off access to the houses. Only a few people who are left with no option are still living in their houses in the evidently disaster prone neighbourhood. From the beginning of the street along the Spibat Road, the neighbourhood is dotted by deep gullies as deep as 40ft. As a result, most uncompleted houses and undeveloped plots have been abandoned and are serving as small lakes where flood waters are collected after every rain.

Cause of problem

It was gathered that the problem was caused by the construction of the Orji Flyover and what is now known as Spibat Road by the Ikedi Ohakim administration between 2007 and 2011. Then, because of the poor drainage system, almost all the water from the Mechanic Village Orji, found their way to Chief Sara Ogu street, which later turned into a heavy erosion site. As years passed by, more flood water was channeled into the same street by individual property developers, thereby putting gutters, road and buildings around in danger. And since that time, the erosion has continued pulling buildings, fences, boreholes and water barriers down. The street, which is fast degenerating into a large-scale environmental hazard, has become a clear source of worry to residents of Works Layout and Rapour/Amakohia axis. Even road users now fear that more buildings and other facilities in the area might soon be affected, if government does not intervene quickly to arrest the situation. Apart from Chief Sara Ogu Street, the erosion is also seen in other roads and streets in Works Layout where they have begun to develop finger-like gullies that push into the streets with intense pressure.

Residents lament

Some residents who narrated their ordeal following the severe erosion of their road described their experience as hellish. According to one of the residents of the area, Mr. Tony Ozurumba, apart from the fact that the road had become inaccessible, gully erosions had also swallowed up many houses in the area. “For over eight years, we have forgotten about driving our cars into our houses, and in the past five years, no vehicle has been driven on this street”, Ozurumba said. He described the damages as devastating, noting that government’s attention was needed to stop further disaster. “It has assumed a very big tragedy. The disaster has now gone beyond us because when this thing was at the early stages, it would have been controlled had it been that the government was proactive to curtail further disaster. You can see it yourself that it’s getting worse by the day. “By the next rainy season, I do not think people will live around here again because it may very well wash away the remaining houses around this area. “This disaster calls for immediate attention to save lives. Governor Hope Uzodinma should come and see the level of damage done here by the erosion and should tackle it immediately. There are other buildings already affected that are waiting to collapse. The governor and his officials should come and check this area to know the extent it has affected the buildings around this area”, he said. Another resident, Martin Nnabue, who owns one of the affected buildings, said he started the drainage work that prevented the flood from gaining ground around 2009 but was overwhelmed by the aggressive nature of the erosion.

Appeal to Uzodinma

He called on Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, to save them, as a matter of urgency, from the looming danger of an entire neighbourhood being washed away. Martin, whose fence, gates, borehole and water tank carrier have been pulled down by the erosion, said, “This thing started very small in 2009. Then, we called officials of the Imo State Road Maintenance Agency (IROMA) for assistance. They came and checked the road and the creeping erosion. They actually included the road in their plans for rehabilitation and maintenance. At the end of the day, the government failed to pay attention to it and re-channel the flood water to a better place. “Soon, Ohakim’s administration ended and the succeeding Rochas Okorocha administration turned a deaf ear and their back on the neighbourhood, until the erosion progressed and assumed an alarming dimension which it has reached today. This gully has destroyed a lot of houses. About 37 houses are affected. You can’t even trace them. You can’t come into this street carrying your bag. Nobody talks about driving into this place anymore. “This area is supposed to be one of the high brow areas of the state capital and that was why many people from overseas bought lands here and built houses. Before now, we had hundreds of tenants living in all the magnificent buildings. But today, you can’t find a tenant in any of the houses because nobody will want to be climbing gullies to have access to his house. Anyone you still find here is because they have not got new apartments to move to”. Another resident, Dr. Andrew Ibe simply called for quick government intervention. He expressed regrets that, in spite of visits by state and federal government agencies to the scene last year, nothing was done to save the situation. They called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene, noting that the disaster had overwhelmed the state government. They also appealed to the Imo State government to immediately provide temporary solution to the problem.

Expert Speak

An environmental expert, Chidi Anthony called for urgent intervention from the federal and state governments to put up a temporary measure to save the residents of the area from danger. He said, “One thing with erosion is that if you don’t control it, it will eat up a particular place and from there destroy other places you think it might not have access to. “This problem is avoidable. We have Nworie River immediately after Rapour Junction and this flood could have easily been channeled into the river. But people who were constructing roads ignored those things which are contained in the environmental impact assessment. “All the state government needs to do is to begin reclamation of the area by connecting the hanging gutter that should run down to the street over there and towards Rapour and build some retaining walls to stop water having a direct contact with the surface soil. “If that could be done, with time, they now know what to do to stop it permanently. But for now, that is what they should do urgently to stop or forestall further havoc. “I can’t count the affected buildings because the road is no longer accessible. We have to thank God that so far nobody has lost his or her life since it started”.

NEWMAP Mission

Anthony also called on the state government to bring the attention of the federal government to the disaster with a view to getting the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), to address the gully erosion in the area and other parts of the state. While noting that the NEWMAP intervention had contributed to checking the menace of erosion in the state and other affected states, Anthony expressed belief that there is still a lot to be done, saying that now is the right time to use the ecological fund to check the erosion menace in the affected areas of the state capital.