PH Mundial – Port Harcourt Online Newspaper News Across The Region
Related Articles
Five buildings and other property in Obogoro Town in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State have been submerged into the Ikoli River following a landslide arising from coastal erosion.
The incident which took place late Saturday night to the early hours of Sunday displaced several persons with scores of residents seen fleeing from the ravaging natural disaster.
Residents are appealing to the Bayelsa State and the Federal Government to urgently come to their rescue and tackle the menace.
Residents of Obogoro Town were shaken to their marrows last Saturday night through the early hours of Sunday morning as a landslide from coastal erosion emanating from the Ekoli River claimed five buildings and several other property in the town located on the outskirts of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
Ada Gwegwe, a frontline activist in the Save Obogoro Campaign says the rampaging waters from the River is threatening the entire town as residents pack their valuables, as others abandoned their homes, no thanks to the ravaging coastal erosion in the area.
A journalist, Eunice Nnachi, explained that a year after a similar incident happened with all the promises of action from relevant authorities, nothing significant had been done, leaving the residents in palpable fear.
In May this year, Governor Douye Diri, after inspecting the Saint John’s Primary School, Ogbogoro, which had been washed off by the erosion, directed the commissioners for Works and Infrastructure and that of Environment to canalize the river at Obogoro community in other to salvage the situation.
A community leader at Obogoro, Chief Richard Somkume, is appealing to the state and Federal Government to expedite action to save the community from going into extinction.
Secretary of Obogoro Community, Mr. Pulu Yogoi, said that as the peak of the rainy season approaches, with an impending flood, there is a looming danger if nothing is done urgently.
Obogoro had in the recent past experienced several landslide that led to the National Youth Service Corps members’ lodge, the community primary school, including the Headmaster’s Quarters, football field and several classrooms been washed into the Ikoli River by the erosion.
Farmlands with crops worth millions of Naira are not spared as the economic livelihood of the people have also been lost to the menace.
The Saint Paul’s Primary School, located in Famgbe, a neighbouring community, that would have served as an alternative for pupils has long been washed into the river with children from Obogoro forced to travel far to acquire basic education.
