Environment

Flood Spreads In Rivers Affects Four LGAs, Renders Thousands Homeless

Published

5 years ago

October 19, 2020

Over 200,000 persons have been rendered homeless while properties including houses and farmlands are destroyed by flood in four local government areas of Rivers State.
The local government areas are Ahoada West, Ahoada East, Abua/Odual and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas.
Sources within the four local government areas informed The Tide that all the coastal communities especially in Ahoada West and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas respectively are under water.
The source further revealed that most of these communities are located in Engenni District of Ahoada West Local Government Area, Ndoni district and Egi kingdom of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas.
According to the source, coastal communities which are under water in Ahoada West Local Governemnt Area are Akinima, the council headquarters, Joinkrama I and II, Ikodi, Akianiso, Igovia, Ususu, Isua, Odau and Edagberi, while in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, all the seven communities in Ndoni District which are Asi Azaga, Isukwa, Otikiri Agwe and Ndoni Main town, in Egi Kingdom. The following communities also affected are: Idu Osobile, Kregeni, Obobouru and others.
Sources revealed that some of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are already overstretched with the number of internally displaced persons occupying them.
The Tide also leant that some residents are living in makeshift structures as well as engaging in premature harvesting of crops.
According to the source, some of the residents particularly in Mbiama/Ndoni and Akinima now cook outside and sleep on scaffold materials.
An internally displaced person who stays in one of the camps told The Tide via telephone that the camps are in dire need of mosquitoes nets, food items and potable water.
He stressed the need for the government to come to the aid of communities in the area.
A resident of Idu Osobile commuity, Ejeukwu Joezah told The Tide that his people now sleep on roof tops.
He said people now move round the community with the aid of canoes.
Also speaking, the Eze Egi of Ogbaland, HRM Professor Anele Uzondu Wokoma, called for supports to flood ravaged communities in the area.
Also, an IDP in one of the camps, in Ahoada West, Mr. Ogbam Orugba, told The Tide in an interview that he has lost all his farmlands to the flood. “I have lost everything to the flood. All my farmlands including houses are all under water,” he said.
He stressed the need for the government and public spirited individuals to come to the aide of the people.
Another indigene of the area, silver Oku, said most residents of the affected communities have relocated to communities not affected by the incident.
Oku, who hails from Mbiama claimed that most villagers particularly in Mbiama are living in make shift structures, while some schools writing the National Examination Council (NECO) examination are also relocating to higher grounds to continue the examination.
“I can confirm to you that the flood has brought hardship to many people. We cook along the road in Mbiama and sleep on top of scaffold materials,” he said.
Also speaking, Mrs Better Jack Miller, said the women are the worst affected in the incident because they lost all their cassava farms to flood.
“The women are the worst affected because the cassava farms they managed to plant is no more there.
“Infact, people are packing from their homes both women and men,” she said.
She also called on the government to come to the aid of the people of the area.
Meanwhile, the Engenni eminent persons forum, a non-governmental organisation, has lamented the level of destructions caused by perennial flooding in the area.
Chairman of the forum, Dr. Harvey Warman, said the perennial flooding in Engenni kingdom is causing untold hardship to the people.
Warman, however, regretted the lack of support to the people by agencies in charge of disaster management in the country, stressing that despite the billions being voted by both the state and federal government for disaster management in the country, Engennis have not benefitted from it.
According to the elder- statesman, Engenni, which produces 30 per cent of the country’s revenue, is being neglected by successive governments in the country.
Warman, who called on the local, the state and federal governments as well as the Redcross Society to come to the aide of the people, also advised the affected communities to remain resilient assuring that the group would continue to create awareness on their plight.
Meanwhile, the Onueze of Ndoni kingdom, Chief John Ugboma Obi, has likened the current flooding to that of 2012.
He told The Tide that the entire Ndoni kingdom has been submerged by flood.
He also said the road linking the kingdom to the rest of the country has been cut off by water.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has described the incident as one of the worst.
NEMA South South coordinator, Mr Brandon Walson, told The Tide via a telephone interview that roads to most of the affected communities have been cut off by the water.
He also confirmed several destructions caused by the flood.
“I can confirm to you that all the coastal communities especially in two local government areas are under water.
“During our visit to the area, I saw plantain farms destroyed, yam farms destroyed, cassava farms and even okoro farms are all under water.
He said the agency has written to its headquarters for the supply of relief materials for the affected persons and communities.
Walson also told The Tide that they were awaiting response from the chairmen of the four affected local government areas for further assessment of the communities.

Environment

Etche Community Blames Erosion on poor conditions of its Road

Published

1 week ago

November 24, 2025

The Tide

Some stakeholders in Okoroagu community in the Etche Local Government Area of Rivers state have blamed the perennial erosion in the community on the poor conditions of their road.

They are therefore calling for the rehabilitation of their road.

They said this in an interview with The Tide, at okoroagu.

Speaking to The Tide,the Ochimba of Okoroagu community, Eze Marcus Amadi said the poor conditions of their road has retarded the growth and development of the community.

According to Eze Amadi,”The government has neglected us, they have forgotten about us, we have been writing letters to the government, both to the NDDC to come and repair our road for us, we are on our knees pleading to them to come help us out, at least they should just dredge the road for us”

Continuing he said”If the government comes today to repair our road, nobody will say they shouldn’t.

“Nobody will obstruct them. We have been shouting and crying that our road is not good, the road is affecting the community economically and socially in the sense that, there is no way we can carry our crops out because of erosion.

“Erosion have taken over the road, making it difficult for us to access other communities especially during rainfall you see people falling down and getting injured inside the river which we call Mmiri Ehe in our language, which reaches our waist line during raining season. Our people can not go to other market to sell their products due to the bad road”he said

Also speaking,Chairman Community Development Committee( CDC )Okoroagu , Hon. Elvis Nwaobasi decried the situation of the road, stressing that economic activities are being affected as movement of goods and services have gradually slowed down in the area.

” The road have affected our women so badly, they are no longer going to the other neighboring markets to sell their Agric produce because of the nature of the road.

“This road has also affected us in many ways, it has affected our educational system, security system, it has also affected our health system, because with the nature of that road, people cannot access our health facilities in the community, with the nature of that road, people cannot access our school, with nature of the road, people cannot come in and do business in our community, we cannot access the road because of the neglect of the road.

“People are using our road for excuses to come in and invest and do businesses. People who come to our market to buy our products are no longer coming because of the nature of the road.

” I am pleading with the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayig Fubara to please come to the aid of Okoroagu and repair our road. I am pleading with the Rivers State House of Assembly, we are suffering too much because of this road. We have been neglected and abandoned for years, the government should please come to our aid” he said.

Also the women leader of Okoroagu community, Mrs. Anthonia Nweke blamed some politicians from the area for abandoning the people of Okoroagu

“Our road has been abandoned, overlooked, with no attention, mostly the higher politicians of the place, we have been abandoned for years”

She also called on the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC to come to their aid.

The Youth Leader of Okoroagu community, Comr. Ezekiel Michael Ikeh who also spoke to The Tide correspondent said the community has suffered so much losses because of the poor conditions of the road.

He said despite Okoroagu’s contributions to the wealth of the state and the nation, government has continued to neglect the people “Okoroagu as oil producing community shouldn’t have been suffering what they are suffering today”

By: Omasirichi Ogechi

Environment

UNEP REPORT: FG MOVES TO DESIGNATE OGONI WETLAND RAMSAR SITE

Published

1 week ago

November 24, 2025

The Tide

In furtherance to the commitment of the Federal Government through the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation (HYPREP) to the full implementation of the recommendations of the UN Environment Programme Report on Ogoni Environment, the Project has commenced processes to designating Ogoni Wetland as a Ramsar Site.

Labaran Ahmed, National Focal Point for Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance and Assistant Director in the Federal Ministry of Environment, who is leading the process for collection of field samples, said the move will converse biodiversity, enhance livelihood, attract ecotourism and further earn global recognition for Ogoni Wetlands.

The UNEP Report envisages that this would provide the Government with a roadmap for restoration and sustainable management of the Ogoni wetland, bring the site unto international among others.

Project Coordinator, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, represented by Director Technical Services, Professor Damien-Paul Aguiyi said the project further attests to the Federal government’s commitment through HYPREP to implementing the UNEP Report simultaneously.

Nigeria is a signatory to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction(BBNJ) Agreement for how research on marine genetic resources must be conducted and documented, ensuring transparency and the equitable distribution of benefits.

Environment

Tribunal Acknowledges losses in Rare species Across the globe …urges for government Action

Published

1 week ago

November 24, 2025

The Tide

The international Right Tribunal has expressed concerned over the continuous loss of rare species across the world.

This was part of a declaration at the just concluded COP30 in Brazil to mark the close of its 6th international tribunal

. Governments and everyday people have been charged to acknowledge that nature has rights just as humans do, and that ecosystems deserve to exist, thrive, and bounce back.

The Tribunal noted that the loss of species is occurring at an alarming rate and that it is time to stop exploiting nature and start protecting it.

The Tribunal urged nations to write laws that protect rivers, forests, oceans, and to end ecocide, recognise and support Indigenous communities, who have always been the best caretakers of the land.

According to the declaration “We are all part of the Earth, an indivisible and living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny but with different existential conditions and rights.

“The multiple crises we are experiencing are rooted in the economic, political, legal and social systems established by the industrial and growth-oriented cultures that dominate the world today, including capitalism, along with patriarchy, sexism, racism, and anthropocentrism.”

It was noted that the choice by the Brazilian government to host COP30 serves as a symbol of the importance of the Amazon. They denounced the current and future impacts of the expansion of the extractivist frontier, deforestation, fossil fuels and large-scale mining. It was urged that the Amazon, with its ecosystems, animal, plant species, and rich biodiversity, natural medicines and its vital and reproductive cycles, should be considered as a subject of rights together with the Indigenous Peoples, and other communities that inhabit it.

The co-president and judge of the tribunal, Nnimmo Bassey, while delivering the verdict, noted that the defence of the rights of Nature is the right way to carry out real climate action and that there is no climate justice without the rights of Nature.

The tribunal stressed the need to phase out fossil fuels and quickly move to renewable energy as a way that protects both communities and ecosystems from false solutions that merely benefit financial speculators and compound climate injustices. The Tribunal also urged the United Nations to adopt the pledge as a blueprint for international environmental law.

A copy of the declaration obtained by The Tide revealed that,Judges at the Tribunal included Ana Alfinito of Brazil, Nnimmo Bassey ( Nigeria), Enrique Viale (Argentina), Shannon Biggs (USA), Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation, USA), Tom Goldtooth (USA), Princes Esmeralda (Belgium), Cormac Cullinan (South Africa), Patricia Gualings (Ecuador), Francesco Martone (Italy) Tzeporah Berman (USA), Ashish Katharine (India), Osprey Orielle Lake (USA), Pooven Moodley (South Africa) and Felicio Pontes (Brazil)