Residents of Onya community in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State have appealed for urgent government intervention as severe erosion along the River Niger continues to eat away at the community.
According to residents, the erosion has persisted for more than 20 years and has destroyed homes, farmlands, schools, shrines and ancestral burial sites, with some parts of the community reportedly losing up to 10 metres of land every year.
President General of the Ndoshimili Development Union, Engr. Ike Onyenokwe, described the situation as critical, warning that continued erosion could eventually render the community uninhabitable.
Onyenokwe called on the Federal and Delta State governments, the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), oil companies and other relevant stakeholders to intervene by providing professionally designed shore protection.
He said the community was running out of land and could face extinction if measures were not taken to halt the encroachment of the river.
Community Chairman, Mr. Owola Ndozi, said the erosion had already destroyed several houses, including a section of his grandmother’s residence.
He also disclosed that the community’s primary school had been reconstructed several times because of the steady advancement of the erosion.
Residents further blamed the activities of oil barges transporting crude oil from Okrigbome, Aboh and Okpai for worsening the situation.
Onyenokwe alleged that as many as 20 barges could pass along the community’s shoreline in a single day, sometimes at high speed, generating waves that further weaken the riverbank.
Beyond the erosion crisis, residents also complained about the lack of basic infrastructure and poor road access to the community.
They said residents are sometimes forced to spend between N15,000 and N20,000 to get to the nearest motorable road before continuing their journey to Asaba-Ase.
The Woman Leader of Onya, Janet Omuta, also appealed to the government to act swiftly, saying the continued erosion had already displaced several families and destroyed homes.
The residents urged the authorities and relevant organisations to treat the situation as an emergency and commence shoreline protection works before more of the community is lost to the River Niger.
