No fewer than 30 buildings are said to have been destroyed and over 50,000 people displaced in the gully erosion ravaging communities in Onitsha Inland, Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

It was gathered that the erosion, which began in 2019, has so far damaged areas at Obeleagu and Nkisi-Aroli streets, thereby causing panic among the inhabitants of the community since 2020, when it became fully blown.

As a result, the residents of the affected areas have therefore called on the state governor, Chukwuma Soludo, to rescue them from the ecological disaster.

Already completely destroyed by the erosion were two churches, a school, shops, and residential buildings.

Our correspondent, who visited the site on Friday, gathered that a three-storey building constructed close to the gully at Nkisi-Aroli Street caved in three years ago, and since then the erosion has kept expanding.

Speaking to our correspondent, a septuagenarian and retired educationist, Onwa Chukwudobe, who is one of the most threatened victims, said he had suffered untold hardship in the past three years due to the erosion.

He said, “I thank God that I am still surviving, and I thank the state government for the much they have done, but as you can see the calamity is not over yet, as it is rapidly ravaging properties in the area.

“I thanked our monarch, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, and the town union leadership for the patronage we received and the relief items they have so far provided for the victims.

“The state government has diverted the water channel from the main erosion gully site but it is yet to be sealed, that is our concern now.”

Another resident of the area, who gave his name as Amechi Egbunike urged the state government to rescue them from the gully erosion without further delay, adding that “We want a proactive measure, not political promises earlier made by past administrations in the state.”

The President-General of the Onitsha Improvement Union, Sir Chike Ekweogwu, told our correspondent that the erosion started in late 2019 and manifested in 2020.

“Since then, we have approached various arms of government, including the Anambra state government, to come to our aid.

“Our monarch has done a lot too by using his influence. At a time, the then Minister of State for Environment, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor, as well as officials of the Anambra state government under the former governor, Dr Willie Obiano, visited the site.

“Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project officials and even former Governor Obiano were here too to look at it. He had some compassion and put up a palliative measure to channel a new gutter into the Nkisi River.

“It locked the other end from Obeleagu Street to Aroli Street to minimise the continuous erosion in the area. He promised then that for effective use of the channel, the Nkisi River would be stilted.

“However, because the waters don’t flow normally anymore, and you know our people with their land speculation attitude, they have encroached on it.

“People are beginning to re-channel it, and you know that water will always find its course and that is where we are today; even the palliative that was done begins to crack because it was not properly cast.”

He appealed to the governor to help complete the palliative started by his predecessor and then stilt the Nkisi River so that it becomes a free-flowing stream.

The President General also appealed to both the federal and state governments to help finance the gully erosion close-up, adding that the community would not be able to finance such a huge project.

When contacted on the development, the state Commissioner for Works, Ifeanyi Okoma, did not take several calls and messages to his telephone.

However, an employee in the ministry who identified herself simply as Mrs Osigwe, said, “Anambra State already has a Flood and Erosion Mitigation Team set up by the governor, which is headed by his deputy.

“The team, which is inter-ministerial has the State Emergency Management Agency, ministries of environment, education, local government areas, power and water, health, agriculture, transport, works, and other concerned government agencies.

“The Team is already working on pre-flood strategies to address the challenges. Precisely, on April 28, the team, through SEMA, started a sensitising tour to the affected LGAs.”

nairalanda1:


Actually, no.

The problem is that the South East is located in what is supposed to be a rainforest.

The soil of the rainforest is very very weak. Naturally, the forest cover is supposed to protect the soil...but as populations rise, the trees get cut down, and the soil is exposed to the heavy rain, and washed away...leading to erosion.

That's why the best cure or prevention for erosion is planting trees. Cut a tree down, plant a tree in its place. The problem is, space for trees might not be enough. The SE is a very densely populated area.

Erosion also happens in the South west and south south.

yarimo:
Hahahaha in Anambra state where are the developers na

FreeStuffsNG:
This is caused by the lawlessness of reckless building of houses on waterways to block water flow and drainages, nature then took its toll.

Everyone can still recall how one of the influencers in Anambra stood his ground to fight task force officers to stop bulldozers from pulling down one of those buildings he built on waterways and blocking free flow of water.

These lawless people are the people Mrs Oby Ezekwelizi pretends not to see because of nepotism; these set of Ndi Anambra are committing crimes against humanity and nature in Anambra and getting away with it yet Oby is not bothered.smh

It's this kind of lawlessness in Anambra we will not accept in Lagos.
Our Lagos, our rules. Safety first.

Macelliot:
OP.

Where is picture prove??

But, sincerely speaking, the picture above doesn’t resemble anywhere in Onitsha.

Onitsha doesn’t have those building types..

Throwback:
We know what Tinubu did to resolve coastal erosion in Lagos.

He partnered with the private sector and built a multi billion dollar coastal city.

What did the dullard of Anambra do about gully erosion in Anambra to show us his brain is 21st century complaint?

If only Anambra had the genius of Tinubu when it mattered most.

FreeStuffsNG:
This is caused by the lawlessness of reckless building of houses on waterways to block water flow and drainages, nature then took its toll.

.

Zupay:
FreeStuffsNG, Mr. "Tinubu started free education in Lagos state" and our erudite gully erosion spotter...shebi you know say gully erosion is not restricted to South East?😜😜😜😆

Keep reminding the supermod to get it to the front page, make we rough am 😆😆😆

Also create thread on why the Federal Government insists on making Anambra children score above the highest cut off mark in Nigeria in order to gain admission into any Federal Government College (Unity schools) in Nigeria.. because that is "cheating".😆😆😆

Most researchers [2, 3, 4] have shown that the environmental factors of vegetation, geology, geomorphology, climate in the form of rainfall which is very aggressive in the region and the soil factor all contribute in the erosion problem and their development.