Posted by The Port Harcourt Telegraph on
The flood situation in Akwa Ibom State is taking another dimension, especially in Anam in the Uruk Anam Local Government area.
The flood situation in Akwa Ibom State is taking another dimension, especially in Anam in the Uruk Anam Local Government area.
Most graves in the area have caved in while all kinds of dead human remains such as bones are now floating on water.
Our investigations show the situation in the flooded areas of Akwa Ibom State is really turning into a national calamity.
From the ground, underground water appears to have burst its banks and is now gushing to the surface.
There is a new thinking, from what we have heard that oil company operations might be indeed be responsible.
There is no clear evidence that oil companies that are extracting oil from the Niger Delta areas are doing enough to guarantee that imbalances are not created underneath the soil on which the local people live as a result of their seismic and exploration activities.
There is also no clear evidence regardless of the presence of impact assessment studies presented by oil companies, that safety standards internationally acclaimed are being met in the Niger Delta region where the policy appears not to take into account the adequate protection of the natives who reside in Nigeria's oil belt.
In the meantime, the Head of Council of the Uruk Anam Local Government, Emmanuel Essien has called on the federal authorities for assistance, saying the flood problem might be difficult for the state government alone to manage.
More than five hundred hectares, going by statistics that are emerging at the moment, have been overrun by flood water.
Local estimates put the value of damage done by the advancing flood water at about N20 million.
In Anam and elsewhere the Abak/Mibim clan, what used to be the easy going life of the people is giving way to fear and apprehension.
The people they are facing their own brand of the tsunami and they worry that unless the authorities in Uyo and Abuja act fast, there may be nothing left. As farmers the local people depend on what they plant to survive. Now, the farms are off limits.