“SAVE OUR SOULS”: Uzuakoli Under Siege As Gully Erosion Swallows Homes, Farmlands …. *“We are living like refugees in our own land,” Victims Cry Out to Gov. Otti, FG for urgent help

About five communities in Uzuakoli, Bende Local Government Area of Abia State are slowly disappearing courtesy of a 7km gully that has ravaged the town for over eight years.

The earth is opening up and swallowing everything in its path. Amamba, Ngwu, Amankwo, Agbozu and Eluama are bleeding. In Eluama, even the Dodds Memorial Methodist Cathedral now hangs precariously on the edge.

Three two-storey buildings and four bungalows have already been buried. Hectares of farmland and economic trees have vanished. Dozens of other buildings located about 50 metres to the gully sites are now marked for destruction. Families have been torn apart and rendered homeless overnight. The people live in fear as each rain expands the ferocious ecological disaster.

To manage the pain, the community set up a rehabilitation center for victims. But the center cannot replace a home.

On Tuesday, July 14, 2026, frustration boiled over. Men, women and youths gathered at the village square. Some held placards. Some women cried and rolled on the ground in helplessness.

Their SOS message to government:  “We have lost our farmlands to gully erosion.”   “We have lost our future to erosion.” “Uzuakoli in Bende LGA is in need of help.” “Further delay will be disastrous. This erosion is a monster. Please help us.” “Governor Alex Otti, hear our cry for help, our dear Ekwueme of Abia.”

Sir Nelson Umezurike, President-General of Ohabuike Amamba, said this disaster started with bad drainage from two road contractors who ignored community appeals.

“As a people we did not keep quiet,” he said.  “When it started, we mobilized over N7 million for palliatives. In two weeks, flood swept it away.

“In 2019, after seven buildings collapsed, we raised over N60 million again. The same flood came and destroyed everything.”

In total, over N67 million gone. Every concrete wall built to stop the water was overpowered.

“We are appealing to federal, state and local governments,” he pleaded. “This is beyond us. Come before we are completely displaced.”

He specifically called on Governor Alex Otti, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, and Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, who he said had visited and done some palliative work, to urgently come to their rescue. He also appealed to the Ecological Fund Office, National Assembly, and Abia State House of Assembly.

Governor Otti, he added, has sent a delegation to inspect the sites.

Uzuakoli Youth President, Ndubuisi Chijioke, said delay is making things worse.

“The more we wait, the more devastation we experience. People have packed out of their homes. Please government should come. We don’t want to start living like Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Our people are dying because when flood sweeps their homes away, they have no alternative.”

Chisaraokwu Onyebuchi Onyeanusi wept as she recalled 2017: “I was inside my father’s three-storey building when it fell into the gully. I ran for my life. We lost everything. I am living like a refugee.”

Okechukwu Nwosu, an iron bender from Umueze Amamba, lost his bungalow with family members inside. “The gully sucked our building. Now my family is scattered. We have no place to stay together.”

President-General of Eluama Autonomous Community, Onyebinanma Sunday Onyebinanma, added: “I’m begging the government, both state and federal, let them come and do something before it’s too late.”

Chinwoda Chinweuche Henry of the Community Arbitration System said millions have been spent but “we cannot actualize anything.”

“If this erosion is not checked, it will discourage our sons abroad from investing at home because their buildings along the affected sites have been swallowed,” he said.

He revealed that agencies including NEWMAP and even EU experts have assessed the gully, but Uzuakoli got only promises. “Why all these years and nothing has been done? Maybe they want this erosion to swallow us completely before they will come,” he lamented.

With every rainfall, Uzuakoli people say “we cannot sleep with two eyes closed.” The gully grows every day, and with it, the fear.

Their only request now: Urgent intervention. Before Uzuakoli is wiped off the map.