After gully erosion devastated homes and property in Amamba Uzuakoli, Bende LGA, the governor of Abia State has asked the locals to leave the region.
The impacted lands are currently unfit for human habitation or agricultural use, according to Commissioner Philemon Ogbonna, who made the announcement during his Friday visit to the village.
Ogbonna was shocked by the extreme destruction in Amamba when he and Chima Anyaso, the Labour Party candidate for the Bende Federal constituency, arrived at the community.
The commissioner assured the impacted communities that the state government will intervene soon after explaining that Governor Alex Otti had instructed him to determine the severity of the ecological issue.
At Uzuakoli, during the inspection, Anyaso, a candidate for the LP House of Representatives, voiced his dismay at the extent of the damage caused by the gully erosion disaster.
In an effort to spare the Uzuakoli community any further tragedy, Anyaso, who felt terrible for the victims, pledged to work with Governor Otti.
He said that despite receiving a lot of support from Uzuakoli in past elections, the parliamentarians from Bende Federal Constituency had failed to bring the government’s attention to the erosion sites.
During a tour of the gully erosion sites led by the Abia State government’s delegation, Chigozie Okechukwu, President General of Amaba Uzuakoli, expressed regret that his people are living in terror. He added that farmers are now frightened to go farming in the areas that have been impacted.
After Okechukwu described how homes and businesses had collapsed into the ditches, he urged the younger generation to stop the tragedy from happening by blocking off roads leading to the gully areas.