The people of Eziala Nsukwe autonomous community, Ubakala, in Umuahia South LGA of Abia State have staged a peaceful protest against alleged pollution of their farmlands and buildings by accumulated dump sites.
They appealed to Governor Alex Otti to direct the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, ASEPA, to relocate the dumpsite from their area.
Eziala Nsukwe Ubakala in Umuahia South South LGA which sits within the state capital territory has been hosting a dumpsite since 2017, but the inhabitants during the protest, claimed that the size of the dumpsite had been expanded by ASEPA, leading to encroachment into their farmlands and some residential areas.
They alleged that the dumpsite had polluted the air around the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, Channel 21 Umuahia and a private Football academy located in Nsukwe.
To express their displeasure, youths, women and community leaders, including the traditional ruler, Batholomew Okorie staged a protest to express their feelings.
Spokesman of Eziala Nsukwe, Chiadikobi Ezigbo lamented that the community had lost its farmlands to garbage, adding that the environment had also been polluted, while cassava farms were allegedly ravaged without any form of compensation to the natives.
“We wrote to ASEPA on August 27, 2024 and on November 5, 2024, yet there has been no response,” he lamented, adding that the attitude of ASEPA “has left us to wonder if Governor Alex Otti is aware of what’s going on.”
A nurse from the community, Chidinma Ngamegbulam said that the proximity of the dump sites is a health threat to her people, even as some other members of the community said that a 5-bedroom house near the refuse dump had been abandoned by its owner because of bad smells.
ASEPA General Manager, Ogbonnaya Okereke is yet to speak on the protest, but a senior Zonal staff of the agency in Umuahia disclosed to journalists that the agency would engage the community to amicably address their concerns.
