Abia gov evacuates residents over gully erosion

The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has promised to take immediate action to tackle the gully erosion menace on Ovom Street, Aba.

He also said he had ordered the evacuation of those living around the erosion site.

The erosion had cut the road on the street into two thereby creating a long valley and leading to the collapse of many buildings in the area.

Otti, who inspected the erosion site on Sunday, directed the General Manager, Greater Aba Development Authority to see him for immediate mobilisation

The governor said, “It’s very unfortunate that erosion has dealt a deadly blow in this area. “The way it is going, if it is not controlled immediately, it will not only affect all the buildings around here but also the opposite side of the road.

“So, we need to come very quickly. I have given an instruction to the General Manager of Greater Aba Development Agency and he should be meeting me later this evening so that we can start solving the problem in the next few weeks.

“We are starting immediately. By the time we engage the engineers and contractors, it is not going to be done by direct labour.

“We need people who understand what to do. But I believe that it is something that we should deal with before the end of this year”.

The governor also disclosed that he had instructed the GADA to evacuate those living around there.

“I had asked him to evacuate everybody that is living around here. So, if you look around these houses, there is nobody in there.

“Those who are very close here, I had already gotten them evacuated. So, I hope nobody goes back to some of these buildings because it’s very dangerous,” he stated.