Palpable fear has gripped residents of Obogoro community in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayesla State, following destructive erosion that has washed away a large portion of the riverside town, located along the Ekoli River.
The troubled indigenes have, therefore called on both state and federal governments to save their ancestral land from extinction, saying that the Goodluck Jonathan Bridge connecting communities across the Ekoli River to mainland Yenagoa might also be affected, if nothing was quickly done to check the erosion menace.
The fear of the natives was further compounded by the recent flood alert by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), warning of imminent flooding in some states, including Bayelsa.
The Paramount Ruler of Atissa clan, King Godwin Igodo, said: “We are at the bank of the Ekoli River and the place is always affected by seasonal flood. Every year, from June to October, this ugly incident continues.
“Right now, our primary school is seriously affected. We have lost the NYSC Lodge to erosion. The NYSC lodge that was very far from the bank of the river is now at the bank, basically eroded.
Igodo, a former chairman of the Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council added: “Some of these environmental problems are natural while some are man-made. Our own is natural, it has been there and we have written to the Federal Government and interventionist agencies to come to our aid but nothing has been done.”
Also speaking, Chairman, Community Development Committee (CDC) of Obogoro, Ewili Nothingbad, asserted: “The remedy to the problem is either to pile the community waterfront or open up a canal across the community. If that is done, it will reduce the water current; lower the current and pressure that is directly coming to this community and causing erosion.