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Joe Effiong, Uyo
Uta Ewa, a coastal community in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, has appealed to the Federal Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the Management of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Akwa Ibom State Government to come to their rescue following the aggression of the floodwaters from the Imo River that has ravaged the area.
The disaster according to the Chairman Uta Ewa Community Council, Chief Emmanuel Gordon Udofia, occurred as a result of the collapsed embankment built 32 years ago by the Federal Government during the functional era of Department of Federal Fisheries in the area.
The community who made the appeal while conducting journalists around the submerged area, said Uta Ewa waterfront which is an important route for maritime activities have been experiencing low level water in the past until the recent incident which has resulted in the near submersion of the community by the waves overflowing through Imo River that forms Uta Ewa Creek.
Udofia attributed the disaster experienced by the community to the collapsed embankment, adding that all efforts carried out by the community through remedial work on the waterfront with the hope that it would sustain them were all in vain.
He said the water overflow had not only rendered them homeless, but also destroyed all their fishing facilities and some had been washed away by the aggressive water current.
The community, he said, had written a series of letters to different government agencies on previous experiences but had received no positive response.
The youth president of Uta Ewa community Mr. Segun Omoboye Ogoluwa said the community was in shock over the incident,
״When we woke up on 27th September, 2019 at 4: 30am, we could not come out from our different houses; we have been experiencing water invasion at a low level but this time around, the aggressive water has created unprecedented havoc as our sources of livelihood have been ruin.
“We are pleading with President Muhammadu Buhari to send a high-powered team of experts to visit Uta Ewa and ascertain the extent of havoc done and rescue us,״ he stated.
Ogoluwa enumerated the losses suffered by the inhabitants of the area who are predominantly fishermen, and called for urgent attention to ameliorate their predicament.
A resident in the area, Mr. Felix Monday Akpan who operates a provision shop along the waterfront in the area, said he could not quantify his losses and re-echoed the plea for government to give them relief materials among other assistance for them to cope with the present challenges.
