Igovia, Akiogbologbo Communities Cry Out Over Neglect

The Igovia and Akiogbologbo (Canaan land) communities in Ahoada-West Local Government Area of Rivers State have cried out over the menace of erosion and absence of educational, health and other infrastructure projects in their communities.
Speaking separately with newsmen during the tour of communities of the area in their palaces recently, Paramount Ruler of Igovia Community, HRH Onyemaechi Mathew, and his Akiogbologbo counterpart, HRH Oniso-laime Amie, decried the worsening lack of infrastructural projects and erosion menace in their communities.
The monarchs called on the Government and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), as well as good spirited individuals to come to their aid.
Igovia and Akiogbologbo are communities in the Ejiro clan of Engenni Kingdom, Ahoada-West Local Government Area of the state.
The Igovia community said: “We’re a host community to Agip, yet We don’t have a health centre. No water, no electricity. We’ve been in darkness all through our existence as a community.
“Even the primary school building that was awarded to this community during the Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi’s Government was abandoned by the contractor. So as it were, we don’t even have a building for our primary school.
“Worst of all is that erosion is washing away our community. We don’t have where to run to if the remaining buildings in this community are washed away. We want Government, Agip and the NDDC to come to rescue us from these challenges”.
The Akiogbologbo Community, on the other hand, said: “We’re a peaceful community, but there’s general lack of infrastructure in this community. Whether educational, health or internal roads.
“There’s no one single government project here, except the Mbiama-Okarki Road that passes through here, but inside this community as you can see there’s no government presence.
“We’ve been neglected by successive administrations. We don’t have any NDDC project. We don’t have even the solar lights that other communities in the Niger Delta have.
“The health centre we’re supposed to have is operating from one of the small classrooms in our dilapidated lone primary school”.

Ariwera Ibibo-Howells,
Yenagoa