Akwa Ibom community cries out over gully

                   
                                               GULLY EROSION

Residents of Akpan Eton and other adjoining streets in Afaha Oku, Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Tuesday sent a ‘Save Our Soul’ message to Governor Udom Emmanuel, over a gully.

The worried residents sent the same message to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Onofiok Luke, and the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr. Nsima Ekere.

They said that they resorted to the SOS because of government’s failure to intervene.

Southern City News learnt that the entire stretch of the street has almost totally given way for the gully.

The SOS letter was signed by the Chairman, Afaha Oku Village Council, Chief Oscar Ekpanya; Secretary to the village council, Mr. Titus Udoh and a member, Ekong Asuquo.

In the letter, which was made available to journalists in Uyo, the community lamented that while many buildings had been swallowed by the gully, others were facing the threat of being swallowed up too.

It read in part, “We want to use this medium to humbly appeal that you please save our souls from a gully erosion which is eating deep into our buildings, some of which had already caved in.

“Your Excellency, some of us are retired civil servants with children and our only assets are our houses, which are now faced with the threat of being washed off whenever it rains. You can imagine what life has become for some of us.

“It may be disheartening to see many Akwa Ibom families lose their homes, as we fear that the entire street may not survive the 2018 rainy season.

“In the interim, some of us, who are badly threatened, have a strong need to relocate our families to safer areas until the erosion and the fast-encroaching gully would have been taken care of.”

Specifically addressing the Speaker, the people expressed confidence that the People’s Assembly (as the state House of Assembly is often called) will rise to protect them.

They also appealed to the Niger Delta Development Commission to carry out whatever palliative measure it can to prevent further encroachment.