*As PG begs for urgent govt, public-spirit individuals’ intervention
Years of ravaging soil erosion at the popular UBA Junction along Enugu-Onitsha expressway near Orie-Owa junction, has cut-off the Umudim community of Imezi-Owa, Ezeagu LGA, Enugu State from the rest of the local government and other parts of the state.
The junction, which provides the only access point to the Umudim community, also serves part of Ezema community, particularly those living around the Ugwu-Ezema axis.
But, following intense rainfalls, which swept off the double culvert erected by the community several years ago, through solely community efforts and engagement of youths of the community, they no longer have access to their homes.
The community folks have for more than 30 years, managed to channel the large volumes of water off the Enugu-Onitsha expressway from the MOPOL Junction up to the Umuaji junction, through manual labour and community efforts, now has finally given way due to heavy rainfall on Wednesday.
As at now, the double culvert, earth embankments and other remedial measured put in place by the community to channel rain water successfully through the community, have been washed away.
* Collapsed portion of the culvert at UBA Junction, off Enugu-Onitsha expressway, washed away by heavy rainfall (Photo credit: Umudim Youths Assembly)
As of filing this report, the Umudim community has been totally cut-off from the rest of the communities in Imezi-Owa and other parts of Ezeagu Local Government Area, making movement to and from Umudim impossible due to the wash-off of their only access road.
The community folks who returned to either visit their elderly ones or those who commute from Umudim to Enugu daily to eke out a living, have been forced to either abandon their vehicles or motorcycles along the expressway to criminals or other hoodlums or have to navigate through very dangerous but narrow road paths in adjourning communities.
The Umudim community is in dire need of government intervention from the menace of erosion, which occurred following a torrential rainfall that left the community in a state of hopelessness, Barr. Chidi Onuorah, the President-General, Umudim Development Association, stated.
Similarly, Mr. John Nebeife, a Youth Leader, explained how the youths have been working on failed portions of the community roads, carrying laterite, mixing sand and cement to erect several culverts and clearing weeds from the gutters every raining season for over 30 years to ensure that rain water finds easy access after every rainfall.
He lamented that all their efforts “have been laid waste by the last rainfall, which totally damaged everything we have been doing all these years”.
Our reporters observed that there is no government presence whatsoever in the community, as every developmental stride ranging from roads, to provision of water (borehole), schools and church building, were shouldered through communal efforts.
Meanwhile, the only primary school in the community, Community Primary School, Umudim, Imezi-Owa, since taken over by government, is totally dilapidated and not fit for learning any longer as it resembles an abandoned school after the civil war without any physical infrastructure in place.
According to the community folks, efforts to get the Chairman of Ezeagu Local Government, Dr. Vitalis Ndu, to assist put up stronger remedial support on the road have met brick walls, the same with the Enugu State government.
“We are calling on relevant government machinery at the Local and State levels, including the ecology office to rescue the community from this dire situation.
“Communal efforts have been on-going in the maintenance of the road, but the current level of devastation has gone beyond us,” the community leaders pleaded.
