Bayelsa: Residents Flee Homes As Erosion Sweeps Houses In Obogoro Community
.LAGOS AUGUST 3RD (NEWSRANGERS)-Five buildings and other property in Obogoro Town in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State have 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 has displaced several persons as scores of Residents were seen fleeing from the ravaging natural disaster.
Residents are appealing to the Bayelsa State and 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 a Coastal Erosion emanating from the Ekoli River claimed five buildings and several other property in the Town located in 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 valuable, as others abandoned their homes, no thanks to the ravaging coastal erosion in the area.
A Journalist, Eunice Nnachi explains 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 Chief 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 stated 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 made the National Youth Service Corps members’ lodge, the community primary school, including the Headmaster’s Quarters, football field and several classrooms washed into the Ikoli River by the erosion.
Farmlands with crops worth millions of Naira have not been 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.
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