Abatete and Oraukwu communities in Idemili North Local Government Area have appealed Governor Chukwuma Soludo to save the area from the menace of erosion threatening the Oraukwu-Abatete-Ogidi-Nkpor Road, as parts of the drainage system at Ezigbo River axis and Oraukwu Grammar School have already caved in.
Speaking after inspecting some of the sites, including Oraukwu and Alor ends of the Ezigbo River bridges, the Chairman of Idemili North Local Government Council, Chief Stanley Nkwoka, said they will embark on immediate interventions to halt further devastation that would endanger the road, including rebuilding broken drainages, desilting them, and refilling affected areas.
The Mayor appealed to Prof. Soludo to assist in dredging the Ezigbo River to protect the new bridges from being blocked and forcing water onto the road.
Also speaking, a former Anambra State President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emeka Udodeme, said government’s immediate intervention will save the road from being cut off, as it is a major access route that links many communities in the area to other parts of the state.
Chief Udodeme maintained that the roads
is very critical in sustaining the tempo of socio-economic activities, and recalled
that the community has dredged the Ezigbo River two times and now needs government intervention to protect the bridges from collapse.
Also speaking on the importance of the road, the President General of Oraukwu Community, Chief Emma Olikeze, said they have carried out various palliative works to check the erosion and now need government intervention.
In their separate reactions, the traditional ruler of Abatete Community, Igwe Emeka Efobi, represented by Sir Emma Chukwuma, Vice President of Abatete Community, Mr Uchenna Ekenwe-Nwolisa, and National President of Odida Welfare Union, Evangelist Nwachukwu Oguekpo, lamented that the erosion menace has remained a challenge to the communities in the area over the years, stressing that if nothing is done soon, the road will soon be cut off.
