100 lives lost as coastal erosion sweeps Bayelsa communities – Rep member reveals

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

A lawmaker representing Yenagoa/ Kolokuma/ Opokuma Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Prof. Steve Azaiki, has raised alarm over the number of lives lost as a result of coastal erosion affecting some Bayelsa communities.

Azaiki, raised this alarm during a plenary session on Tuesday, while decrying the alarming number of deaths currently in Nigeria.

He said, “Today in the Green Chambers, was a sad day. Too many deaths reported in Kebbi, Benue, Oyo, Imo, Zamfara, Borno, kaduna, Jos and many other cities and states.”

He added that the tragedy of the people of Ogbogoro and Famgbe in Yenagoa Local Government Area and many villages in Bayelsa, as a result of coastal erosion, will also not be left out.

Making a statement on it on Facebook, Azaiki wrote, “The tragedy of the people of Ogbogoro and Famgbe many villages in Bayelsa has compelled me to stand up for our people. I told the House of Representatives and indeed Nigeria the washing away of villages in Bayelsa by coastal erosion.

“Some scientists trace the problem to the activities of the multinational oil companies in our area. Let Nigeria know, that Ogbogoro and Famgbe have lost lives and millions of naira worth of properties to erosion and painfully hundred of lives lost.

“I have in my letters early this year put the President on notice. I have equally written to the Minister of Environment, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Ecological Fund, National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA), Niger Delta Development Agency (NDDC) and relevant agencies.

“ I have told our story and explained our pains and anguish to the House of Representatives and indeed Nigeria. It is now in our collective consciousness and conscience.”

Some residents of the communities had last year called on the government for intervention as scores of them have abandoned their homes.

Buildings such as houses, Corners Lodge, churches, schools and school fields have so far been affected.
They lamented that the water from the Epie Creek shows no mercy as it submerges everything within its way, eating deep into the community.

The residents attributed the cause of the erosion to illegal dredging operations along Ikoli Creek.

Numo Olali in his reaction told Ultimate News, “This is just the beginning of greater submerging in that territory. When we kicked against the dredging going on in that area people were shutting us. If the dredging going on in that area is not stopped in the next 15years, the whole of these community will be history. We can’t pressure nature like that, it will definitely ask for it one day. God please help them.”

Eru Godwin added, “These are some of the roles that Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is supposed to take over but instead, the commission has been looted dry by her supposed leaders and friends.”

NatureNews reports that Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms.

In Nigeria, Coastal erosion is experienced in almost all the sections of the country’s coastal zones. The coastal areas in Nigeria are Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-Rivers, Delta, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Rivers.

The traditional member states of the oil producing states are Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-Rivers, Delta, Edo and Rivers States. Other coastal but non-oil producing states are Lagos and Ogun States.

Citing the implications of coastal erosion, the World Bank in a report in 2018, using a consistent valuation methodology, estimates the cost of coastal degradation in three Nigerian states: Cross River, Delta and Lagos.

In 2018, floods, erosion and pollution in these three states cost society $9.7 billion, or 2.4 percent of the country’s GDP.