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Uyo residents sacked by gully beg govt. to intervene

By Yemi Olakitan 

No fewer than ten landlords of Akpan Eton Street in Uyo, including retirees, who were forced to relocate from their homes as a result of a destructive gully that washed away many buildings, have sent a Save Our Souls (SOS) message to Governor Udom Emmanuel. The message reads: “We beg you to help us save our souls.”

The street, which was populated by employees of the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Coneley Cornelia College, and Uyo City Polytechnic, was situated between the roads Ikpa and Urua Ekpa and served as a link lane from the College of Science, Afaha Oku, and Atiamkpat. It was located between the two roads Ikpa and Urua Ekpa.

In the letter that was handed over to journalists yesterday in Uyo, residents of the area appealed to the governor to expand his ongoing intervention along Ikpa Road to include the local area.

The residents, who acknowledged Emmanuel’s humane disposition towards their plight – demonstrated by the ongoing ecological intervention in various parts of the state – expressed their regret that repeated calls for assistance made to previous administrations did not result in any action being taken by those administrations.

The community expressed their concern in a letter that was written and signed by Titus Udoh and Ekong Asuquo. The letter lamented the fact that although many buildings had already been consumed by the gully, many others were on the verge of collapsing.

The following is an excerpt from the letter that was sent to the governor general: “Your Excellency, we use this medium to humbly appeal that you save our souls from a gully erosion, which is eating deep into our buildings, some of which had already caved in. Some of us are former public servants who are now retired with families, and our home is the only asset we own. You can probably imagine what life has become for some of us now that we are constantly threatened by the possibility of being washed away by the rain.

“It may be quite disheartening to see many Akwa Ibom families lose their homes, as we fear that the entire street may not survive this rainy season,” said one resident. “We fear that the entire street may not survive.” In the meantime, some of us who are in grave danger have been forced to move our families to more secure locations so that the erosion and the rapidly advancing gully can be addressed.

Udoh, a retired man whose fence had collapsed into the gully, stated that he made the decision to temporarily relocate in order to save his wife, who had developed health complications as a result of the gully.

Daniel Kufre, a local resident, offered some insight into the erosion site by pointing to an abandoned burrow pit that had been dug by a construction company that had been given a job by the World Bank in the vicinity many years ago.

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