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Okey Sampson, Aba
The Igbo saying that if a girl does not show that trait of madness in her, she will not get a suitor, made intrepid manifest in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State recently when protests by a community forced the state government to relocate a ‘poisonous’ dumpsite known as ‘Emelogu Mountain’ afters years of peaceful persuasion yielded no result.
Emelogu Road and its environs, a thickly populated suburb of Aba, located within Ehere area of Ogbor Hill, used to be a no-go area because of the perilous smell that oozed from that pit of hell on earth called Emelogu Mountain.
In fact, for years, residents died in silence while the air around the dump site stench and the putrefaction was awful. Located on the middle of the about one kilometre stretch Emelogu Road, many said the Emelogu Mountain competed favourably with Kilimanjaro Mountain in Moshi, Tanzania in height.
Sitting unattractively, and hazardously occupying a sizable chunk of a diminutive upscale land which formed a somewhat plain valley that stretches into Aba River through the Orji Uzor Kalu Bridge opening, the refuse dump site could be anything but friendly. Residents including children, who attend schools located within the vicinity and up to kilometres away, lived at the mercy of impending catastrophe. Businesses were lull; plots of land and houses in the area, lost their values as nobody dared near the place to buy property.
As the area was becoming increasingly uninhabitable by the day, residents set out to find solution to their dilemma. The peace move initiated by the traditional ruler of Ehere community, Eze Young Nwangwa with the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) officials who managed the refuse dump site, commenced in earnest. Our correspondent gathered that there were meetings between residents of the area and the government including representatives of the ASEPA to find a way to relocate the dump site without success.
To give bite to their peaceful push to get the dumpsite relocated, residents threatened to drag the state government to court, lamenting that the existence of the dump operated by ASEPA, had caused outbreak of various diseases in the area.
It was at this period that they through their lawyer, F.C. Ohajuru of Obianwu Obiora chambers, handed a 14-day ultimatum to the state government to relocate the dump site or they will be compelled to use all lawful means to protect the health of the people from further danger.
The petition noted that the community had made several entreaties to ASEPA to relocate the dump or abate the stinking odour emitting from the site for the sake of the health of the residents including school children and preservation of the environment.
“The ASEPA’s waste dump site situated at Emelogu street residential area is where all manner of waste from different parts of Aba and its environs is dumped. The dump is completely filled, yet ASEPA keeps heaping refuse on top of the site.
“Consequently, Ehere community is adversely affected by air pollution. The stinking odour is unbearable. The odour emitting from the dump is overwhelming to the extent that it is perceived even in the dress of any person who steps into the area.
“ASEPA cannot continue to take the lives of Abians for granted as doing so will be inconsistent with the mandate of the agency which is the protection of the environment. It is our instruction to demand that you intervene to stop ASEPA from further dumping refuse and for them to cover the dump with sand. Take notice that we shall be compelled to use all lawful means to protect the health of the people from the reckless act of ASEPA if after 14 days, this nuisance is not abated”, the petition stated.
However, as the 14-day ultimatum rolled by, nothing happened. But one striking incident changed the course of action recently when a boy of about 11 had gone to the site to dispose waste. One of the young men said to be in charge of the site apprehended him for not dumping refuse in the “right” place and ordered him to pay N200 ‘fine’. It was reported that before the boy could say anything, the refuse attendant pushed him and he fell on a broken bottle and got a serious cut. It was gathered that the boy’s father identified simply as Koffi came to the place to find out what happened to his son; he was reportedly treated in the same manner.
This actually infuriated youth of the area who said enough was enough. They protested and barricaded the Emelogu Road that led to the dump site and prevented vehicular movement in or out of the area.
The wild protest forced the ASEPA Deputy General Manager in charge of Aba zone, Mr. Rowland Nwakamma to come begging and promised that the site would be closed in a matter of days.
It was gathered that truly, in less than a week; Nwakamma who had reneged severally on his promise to relocate the dump site; moved his men and truck out of the area, closed the dump site and ended residents’ years of nightmare.
Residents of the area now have a new lease of life. One of them; Nnamdi Nwafor said: “You can see we now have breath of fresh air. We thank God for people’s power as we would have continued to live in silence and bondage.”
