A fully loaded Sienna bus on Saturday fell into a deep gully created by erosion at Umuchima in Ideato South Local Government Area, LGA, of Imo State.
Though no life was lost, some of the passengers sustained various degrees of injuries.
Villagers were seen making frantic efforts to rescue the passengers who were trapped in the ditch.
This ugly incident has become a regular occurrence in communities in the Ideato North and Ideato South local councils. The people are now, more than ever, faced with existential threats posed by multiple gully erosions ravaging practically every nook and cranny of the area.
The Orlu-Umuchima-Obiohia-Akokwa-Uga federal road has been cut off by gully erosion thereby leaving motorists and other road users stranded and at the mercy of hoodlums.
Despite the litany of high profile political office holders from the area, no respite has come for the people.
Worried by the erosion devastation in his constituency, the lawmaker representing the Ideato North/Ideato South federal constituency at the National Assembly, Hon. Pascal Obi, on Tuesday, September 28, moved a motion of urgent national importance for immediate repair of the federal road that connects Imo to Anambra and to other parts of the country.
The lawmaker said he had called on the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, to do remedial works on the road, regretting that work done by the intervention agency could not prevent the devastation being witnessed on the road presently.
“The situation has gotten worse and I don’t think the state government has the capacity to tackle the challenge now. In view of this, I have called my colleagues in charge of the Federal Ministry of Works, and the FERMA.
“I have also drawn the attention of the relevant authorities to the motion I moved on Tuesday”, Obi disclosed.
Though not much has been seen from the state government towards tackling the challenges, it is said that the present administration is assiduously dealing with the situation.
Governor Hope Uzodinma, through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Oguwike Nwachukwu, said he was not only dealing with the situation in Ideato South and North but anywhere erosion is posing a threat to the lives and property of Imo citizens.