A lawmaker representing Idemili South State Constituency in Anambra, Mr Chukwuka Ezenwune, has raised alarm over an erosion site which he said had claimed a section of a road at Uke in the state.
Ezenwune, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, August 16, 2018 at the erosion site, called for urgent government intervention to avoid disaster.
He said the call became imperative to avert loss of lives and property along the road linking Nkpor and Nnobi, Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Awka-Etiti towns and other communities in Anambra and Imo states.
“This road is one of the busiest roads in the state. In fact, it is a by-pass to other communities in Anambra and Imo.
“At this point, I don’t advise any articulated vehicle to use this road because it has already caved into the second lane for incoming vehicles.
“If an urgent action is not taken, the erosion will bring untold hardship not only to the people of Idemili North and South Constituency, but to the entire people of the state.
“I am using this medium to send a Save Our Soul (SOS) to the state and Federal Government to save the road and avoid unnecessary deaths,” he said.
He recalled that former Premier of Eastern region, Dr Michael Okpara, and the governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, planted cashew and malaina trees during their era to control erosion in the area.
However, the lawmaker expressed concern that felling of the trees for construction without proper flood and erosion channel control were causing more damages to the area.
“Government should come up with a policy that nobody should erect structures or even start farming on places where it planted trees or constructed drains without its permission.
“For them to have uprooted the trees, caused erosion to be endemic in my constituency,” he said.
He also appealed to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to urgently put up sign posts to warn motorists of the danger ahead on the road, especially at night.
Also, Mr Gabriel Emenike, a motorist, who plies the road daily, described the erosion site as a “death trap.”
“This is terrible. I saw this development two days ago and I was not impressed.
“If something is not done urgently before another big rainfall, I do not think people will be able to use the road again,” he said.
For Mr Chidiebere Mkpuma, a horticulturalist near the site, said the continued use of the road without fixing the damages might result to accident and loss of lives.
“An articulated vehicle that tried to dodge the erosion site some days ago almost caused an accident but nobody died.
“The erosion site has been there for long but became worse due to the ongoing road and building constructions around here.
“A particular church used graders to push down some trees during demarcation which had been a wage controlling the erosion all the while,” he said.
By Peter Okolie
