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From Joe Effiong, Uyo
More than 10 landlords of Akpan Eton Street, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, have relocated from their homes, following a fast-approaching gully which has so far destroyed many houses in the area.
Akpan Eton Street is located between Ikpa and Urua Ekpa roads and had hitherto served as a minor link from College of Science, Afaha Oku and Atiamkpat, off Ikpa Road, a thickly populated by a staff of the University of Uyo, CCC and Uyo City Polytechnic.
Those deserting and those still hanging hoping miracles would happen have sent a Save Our Souls letter and appealed to Governor Udom Emmanuel to extend his ongoing intervention gestures along Ikpa Road to the area.
The letter as sighted by Daily Sun was signed on behalf of the community by Mr Titus Jerome Udoh and Hon Ekong Archibong Asuquo, in which they lamented that while many buildings had already been swallowed up by the gully, many others were on the verge of caving in.
The residents who have acknowledged Governor Udom Emmanuel’s humane disposition towards the plights of the people, as demonstrated by ongoing ecological interventions in various parts of the state regretted that repeated calls for help from previous administrations could not yield results.
“We want to use this medium to humbly appeal that you please save our souls from a gully erosion which is eaten 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 asset is our house, now faced with the threat of being washed off at every rainy moment. You can imagine what life has become for some of us”.
“It may be quite disheartening to see many Akwa Ibom families lose their homes, as we fear the entire street may not survive this rainy season.”
“In the interim, some of us who are badly threatened have had to relocate our families to safe areas until the erosion and the fast encroaching gully would have been taken care of,” the letter read.
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Mr Udoh, a retiree whose fence caved into the gully 2021 said he decided to temporarily relocate to save his dear wife who had developed health complications due to constant dread of the situation.
Giving an insight into the unfortunate erosion site, a member of the community, Mr Kufre Daniel explained that the area was excavated as a borrow pit and later abandoned by a construction company that was awarded a World Bank job in the area some years back.
Daniel regretted that the pit which gradually grew, with heavy floods coming into it from Urua Ekpa, later expanded, unattended to and began to swallow up buildings some 15 years ago.
He also recounted sad incidents of humans who have lost their lives around the area, including one of the residents who mistakenly slipped into the gully while attempting to flee from some wild dogs in the neighbourhood.
While applauding the ongoing intervention works on Ikpa Road, the youths expressed concerns that water rushing out of the area may still pose a threat to the main Ikpa Road as it would continue to flood the area if not properly channelled.
“The state government is sinking so much on the ongoing intervention works on Ikpa Road, but we may still have to battle with gullies if the volume of water coming in from Urua Ekpa through the gully at Akpan Eton, down to Atiamkpat and emptying into the ravine by Nabor Street is not properly channelled.
“This proper channelling is very important because the entire right-hand side of Ikpa Road from the University of Uyo is bordered by a ravine that must not be allowed to cross into the other side of the road, therefore every issue of flood, gullies, poorly terminated gutters and the rest need to be duly addressed to save both sides of the road from future collapse,” Daniel explained.
