9 months ago
62 ARTICLE AD
There is palpable panic among residents of Odioma and Sangana communities on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, following a recent ocean surge ravaging in the communities.
Indigenes of the impacted communities attributed the natural disaster to the rise in sea level, which had left monumental destruction in its trail.
A viral 53-second video on the natural disaster showed three middle-aged women struggling to salvage some of their belongings in front of their flooded house, while crying, “Odioma is finished, Odioma is finished, come and help us.”
Secretary of Odioma Community Development Committee, Mr Fosbury Iniegha, told South-South PUNCH in a telephone conversation, “The recent surge happened on Sunday, March 10, 2024 and has affected two residential buildings this time. Due to the ocean level rise from the shores of the ocean and from the river bank, the (flood) waters meet at the centre of the community.”
He stated that the predominantly fishing settlements had lost their means of livelihood, source of drinking water and more than 100 kilometers of road, as well as other public utilities to the coastal menace.
He also expressed fear that the current disaster could trigger epidemics in the area, as the flooding, resulting from the ocean surge, had also impacted cemeteries with the possibility of washing up fresh corpses.
Lamenting that this was not the first time such incident would sweep land and infrastructure away in the community, Iniegha, said they had been complaining to the Bayelsa State government, but concrete measures had not been put in place to curtail the catastrophe.
He said, “We have been reporting incidences of ocean surge in Odioma to the state government. I have been an advocate on the issue. We keep informing the government, but nothing concrete had been done. Presently, the governor has not appointed the state executive council, so most issues will be whispered through informal channels to him.”
The community leader, however, appealed for relief materials for the people and urged the government to reclaim the land and carry out embankment or relocate the community folks to save them from the traumatizing natural disaster.
He lamented, “We have lost our means of livelihood and source of drinking water. Public utilities like electricity poles, roads have been damaged. I can attest to you that we have lost over 100 kilometres of road constructed by the state government through constituency projects and Ministry of Local Government.
“The major challenge now is our source of drinking water, and the health implications that may arise because currently, even the community cemetery is being flooded and the water will wash it off, and there will be exposure of fresh dead bodies. This is health scare, apart from the existential threats that we face.
“Over time we have been appealing to government. Government should help us reclaim the land, and also dredge and do ocean embankment by the shoreline and also within the rivers bank. Now, the surge is not just coming from the ocean alone, because of the rise in sea level. Once the water rises it also comes to the remaining part of the community.
“Let the government provide relief materials for us, and if possible, relocate us before we get surged up one night; because if a baby is sleeping at that time or a sick person is lying down on the floor and this surging activity happens, it might also call for an emergency. So let them relocate us and those that their houses have been destroyed to temporary structures while we combat the real facts of life.”
