ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Five buildings and other property in Ogbogoro town, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, have been washed into the Ikoli River following a landslide from coastal erosion.
The incident 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 address the recurring menace.
A frontline activist in the Save Ogbogoro Campaign, Ada Gwegwe, said the rampaging waters from the river is threatening the entire town.
She said residents had moved their valuables away and others abandoned their homes due to the ravaging coastal erosion in the area.
A journalist, Eunice Nnachi, who resides in the community, 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 Ogbogoro community in order to salvage the situation.
A leader of Ogbogoro, Chief Richard Somkume, appealed to the state and Federal Government to expedite action to save the community from going into extinction.
Secretary of Ogbogoro 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.
Ogbogoro had in the recent past experienced several landslides that made the National Youth Service Corps members’ lodge, the community primary school, including the Headmasters’ 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 livelihoods 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 Ogbogoro forced to travel far to acquire basic education.