Erosion Gully: Ebenator Community Sends SOS To Obiano

IZUNNA OKAFOR

The people of Ebenator Ozulogu community, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, have appealed to the government of Anambra State under the leadership of Chief Dr. Willie Obiano, to run to their rescue as a cantankerous erosion gully popularly known as ‘Ibo Ebenator’ is threatening to wipe out the community.

The call was harped by the President General of the community, Chief Anthony Okechukwu, in an interview with P.M.EXPRESS correspondent in his country home, Ebenator, while reacting to the incessant rain fall that recently badgered nonstop for three days and its chains of effect on the community.

He maintained that the erosion gully, which is one of the deepest in entire southeastern region, has been a thing of worry and distress to the people of the community, and has tormented the entire community for over twenty years, and still counting.

Among other threats and dangers, Chief Okechukwu further disclosed that the gully, on yearly basis, throws some members of the community into tears and regrets, as it advances and escalates towards people’s houses, collapsing many and forcing others to flee their homes; destroys farm lands and crops, disjoints inter-community routes, and more worrisomely, now advances towards the community’s Primary School thereby hanging as a death trap against the innocent pupils of the school who have already resumed their academic activities for the term.

Highlighting some of the palliative works so far undertaken by the community, and their collective efforts to salvage the situation which all amounted to futility, the helmsman who appreciated Gov. Obiano for his giant strides in championing rural development across the state, also pleaded with him to as a matter of urgent, run to their rescue to save the community and her people from the impending doom, as many people no longer sleep in their houses for fear of having their building collapsed on their heads at night, especially in this rainy season.

“Government should please rush to our rescue as a matter of urgent, because this is a matter of life and death” he added.

Joining his voice to the call, the Traditional Ruler of the community, Igwe Edwin Chinewubeze Ezejiburu, said the erosion gully has caused a lot of damages to the people of the community, to the extent that it now threatens to rend the community, by cutting off many access roads that link each of the villages to another.

The Royal Father who recently officiated the New Yam festival celebration of the community further eulogized the Obiano-led administration for the Community Choose Your Project Initiative which he said the community has benefited a lot from; even as he pleaded with him to treat the issue of the erosion gully as an emergency, given the fact that human life is involved though no causality was said to have been recorded in the recent time.

Contributing, a concerned you in the community and CEO Austin Urunwa Computer Institute, Mr. Chidiebere Ojiego, who thanked Gov. Obiano for the massive youth empowerment going on across the state also called on the state government and the government of the federation to urgently do the needful, or and least deploy a delegation from the offices of concerned ministries and agencies to visit the community and see things for themselves.

“If this erosion gully continues to destroy our lands and houses like this, I wonder where we the future generation will dwell or farm in the future. So government at the state and federal levels should urgently come to our aid.” Ojiego in his words.