By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District, Victor Umeh, has called on the Federal Government to declare the district an ecological disaster zone over worsening erosion and flooding.
Umeh made the call at the weekend during a visit to parts of Awka, the Anambra State capital, where torrential rainfall caused severe flooding and erosion.
The disaster reportedly claimed the life of a six-year-old schoolboy, while about three houses collapsed into an erosion gully, displacing residents.
Umeh, who visited the scene of the erosion and the family of the deceased child, said all the local government areas in his senatorial district were being affected by flooding and erosion.
He said, “All the buildings around here are under threat. These ones right behind me have already collapsed and part of the other one has also collapsed.
“This requires immediate attention from the government. There is need for remedial action to halt the continuous spread of this erosion at least in this area.
“The best thing for the Federal Government to do is to declare my senatorial district an ecological disaster zone, so that the ecological office will treat this as an emergency.”
The senator said he would update his pending Senate motion on the erosion affecting the Idemili North and South axis to include the latest incidents in Awka.
He added that the situation had gone beyond what residents could address on their own, urging the Federal Government to intervene urgently.
One of the victims, a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Celestine Okoye, also appealed for government assistance, saying residents were now living in fear.
Umeh also visited Mr and Mrs Ezenwafor, whose six-year-old child died in a flood on Tuesday, to sympathise with the family.
