Over ten landlords and tenants in Akpan Eton Street in Akwa Ibom State’s Uyo Local Government Area have evacuated their properties as a result of a deep gully approaching on their doorsteps.
According to reports, many houses have already caved in owing to the invasion.
In a save our souls letter obtained by The Punch in Uyo on Tuesday, the locals urged Governor Udom Emmanuel to extend his ongoing intervention gestures along Ikpa Road to the area.
Residents complained that repeated requests for assistance from previous governments had gone unanswered.
The citizens noted, according to the letter signed by Mr Titus Jerome Udoh and Hon Ekong Archibong Asuquo, that while several buildings had already been gobbled up, as many others were at the verge of caving in.
“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 threat of being washed off at every rainy moment. You can imagine what life has become for some of us”.
“It may 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 in part
Mr. Udoh, a retiree whose fence collapsed into the gully in 2021, said he opted to relocate temporarily to spare his wife, who had acquired health difficulties as a result of the circumstance.
Mr Kufre Daniel, another community member, revealed that the location was excavated as a borrow pit and then abandoned by a construction company that was granted the contract several years ago.
Daniel regretted that the pit, which gradually emerged due to heavy floods from Urua Ekpa, later expanded, went unnoticed, and began to gobble up structures about 15 years ago.
He also shared heartbreaking stories of people who died in the region, including one of the locals who fell into the gully while attempting to flee from some wild dogs in the neighbourhood.
While applauding the ongoing intervention works on Ikpa Road, he, however, 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 channeled.
“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 empties into the ravine by Nabor Street is not properly channeled.
“This proper channeling 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,” he said.
