Devastating gully erosion in Nasarawa and Cross Rivers states’ communities has destroyed lives and properties as well as displaced indigenes and residents.
The natural disaster is more pronounced in Nasarawa/Bacoco, Ikot Uduak, Ikot Nkebre, Nyaghasang, Akai Effa and Anwatim Communities in Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal Constituency, Cross River State.
At the same time, the Nasarawa/Bacoco community is the worst hit, with about 100 of the 500 units of Aka Estate, a low and middle-income housing scheme which was an intervention project facilitated by a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. (Etubom) Nya Asuquo Eyoma (1999-2003) have submerged. There is the threat of more houses being submerged.
Consequently, the House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to ensure the provision of relief materials and other forms of aid for the victims of erosion.
The lawmakers who also urged the Ecological Fund Office, to urgently carry out an impact assessment aimed at mitigating the gully erosion and include the construction of intervention projects in the 2024 budget estimates, have mandated its Committee on Ecological Funds to investigate the reason why previous interventions in the communities failed.
Hon. Bassey Akiba who brought the incident to the notice of the House of Representatives and moved a motion for an urgent intervention, disclosed that there had been previous intervention and mitigation projects by government agencies and the World Bank at the erosion sites at Ikot Nkebre and Ikot Uduak, but the measures have failed to address the problem
He was concerned that the devastating effect of the gully had destroyed houses and other properties, and also compromised the integrity of the substructure of many buildings forcing many residents out of their homes without shelter for fear of building collapse, hence in need of temporary shelters and other relief materials;
Worried that without urgent intervention to forestall further devastation and losses in the vicinity of the gully erosion, there might be a humanitarian crisis as the houses in these communities are in danger of being submerged by the gully and most of the owners, especially beneficiaries of the housing scheme and farmers whose lands and properties are being threatened cannot bear the cost of mitigating the disaster;
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