Residents and indigenes of Amudo/Amachalla village, Awka have made a passionate appeal to Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State, to come to their rescue, over a massive gully erosion menace ravaging the area.
A visit by TNC correspondent to the site, showed that many lands and property in the area have caved in due to the gully, while the road leading to so many other properties have been cut off.
Many houses in the area have also been deserted by their occupants for fear of being swept off by the gully, in the event of torrential rainfall.
A major public facility in the area also threatened by the gully, is the nearby Girls Secondary School, Amaenyi Awka, where most students in the State Capital attend school.
A native of Awka, Nwabueze Nwanna noted that the erosion was a result of poor management of the flood water in the area, noting that so far, there has been no intervention from government.
He revealed that several attempts have been made by the residents through the State Ministry of Environment to attract the attention of the State Government but nothing appears to be coming in terms of help.
Another resident, Emeke Nzekwe lamented that they at risk of losing their homes to the gully, if nothing is done urgently.
“This degradation here wasn’t as bad as it is now before 2019 but due to lack of attention, it keeps advancing.
“From here, it has extended to over 200 meters and destroyed virtually all the property here. Some of the property down there are up to DPC level but there is no road to take materials to the projects.
“This school here is almost caving in into the gully and we are worried.
“From all our inquiries, it may not be as capital intensive as other gully sites because it is just earth filling that it requires.
“After the earth filling, then drainage system can now be created to collect and dispose water. But leaving it like this will cause more devastation,” he noted.
Other Awka indigenes, Joseph Nwiyi and Chris Ofordile, regretted that their self-help efforts have not sufficed in checking the gully, noting that the gully has gone beyond what the people can handle.
For the Principal of Girls Secondary Amaenyi, Dr Ndidi Okeke, the school is presently threatened and both Federal and State Government are beckoned to intervene urgently, to save the lives of the school children.
“The school in her own little way has been doing so much to check the encroachment but due to the topography of the area, it is quite difficult.
“Several people have come here to look at the problem but we haven’t seen any help.
“This is a school and we habour children here who can move about at any time and their lives are at risk.
“We call on the Federal and State Governments to come to our rescue to address this issue once and for all,” she concluded.
