By Wevole Ezin
Residents of Peaceland Community in Calabar, Cross River State, are living in fear as an expanding ravine continues to eat into residential buildings, displacing families and threatening to destroy more homes.
The residents, who spoke to our Correspondent during an inspection of the ravine, said several houses had already been swallowed or abandoned, while others are now only a few metres from the edge of the erosion channel.
They said the situation had worsened following recent rains, with residents fearing that more houses could collapse if the rainfall persists.
One of those at risk is Mrs Ekanem Inyang, a widow and mother of three, whose house is now about five metres from the ravine.
She said the property was the only house left for her family by her late husband, who died in 2018.
“When the rain falls, I will not be able to sleep. Please, the government help me because I don’t have any hope. We don’t have any way to go,” Inyang said.
The community leader, Johnson Eteng, said residents had watched helplessly as the ravine consumed properties and forced some landlords and tenants to relocate.
Eteng said community members had attempted to check the erosion by planting bamboo and using discarded trailer tyres to reinforce sections of the ravine, but the measures had failed to withstand the force of the water.
Another resident, Patrick Okon, described the ravine as “very active”, warning that more houses could be lost within weeks if the current rainfall continues.
He called on the Cross River State Government, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ministries of Works and Environment, and New Map to urgently intervene with engineering measures to protect the remaining buildings.
Okon said a Senior Special Assistant to Governor Bassey Otu had previously visited the community and told residents that the ravine was among the four most life-threatening ravines in Calabar and had been captured in the New Map budget for intervention.
However, residents said they were yet to see tangible work at the site, despite the rapid expansion of the ravine.
They urged the government and development partners to intervene before more families are displaced, stressing that relocating residents amid the prevailing economic hardship would be difficult.
“We don’t want to record more devastation. The one we have recorded, we cannot undo it,” Okon said.
