A bridge linking about seven communities and several camps in the riverine Ogbaru local government area of Anambra State has collapsed.
As a result of the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, thousands of persons have been marooned by this year’s flooding in the area, having been cut off from their kith and kin.
The affected communities include Umunankwo, Mputu, Ogwuaniocha, Ossomala, Obeagwe, Akili Ogidi and Ogwuikpele.
LEADERSHIP learnt that the bridge, which had been wobbling since last Friday’s boat mishap in Umunankwo area of the local government area which claimed no fewer than 20 lives, finally caved in on Wednesday morning October 12, 2022.
An outboard engine boat conveying about 85 passengers, mainly traders, from Umunankwo to the nearby Nkwo Ogbakuba market, had soon after take-off at Umunankwo suffered engine failure, leading to a crash against the barriers of the bridge.
An indigene of the area, who spoke to LEADERSHIP said, “Besides the visit by the Transition Committee Chairman of Ogbaru, Hon. Paschal Aniegbuna, to access the extent of damage, no other government official came from Awka to examine the crash site.
“In fact, we have long been cut off, without anyone making any appreciable effort to assuage our pains. This is the only road that connects all communities in Ogbaru, but surprisingly it cut into two somewhere around Ofia Umuoga, between Ogbakuba and Umunankwo about two weeks ago, only for our governor to visit Ogbaru and stopped at Odekpe, very far from the site of the collapse.”
LEADERSHIP gathered that with the latest incident, persons from the affected communities are now left with water transportation as the only means of moving around with the attendant risk of accident, given the huge tidal waves of the flood.
Reacting to the latest incident, a former member of the House of Representatives, Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, reiterated his earlier calls on both the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to redouble efforts in providing succour for the people of Ogbaru.
He said, “In fact, the string of calamities currently being experienced by my people of Ogbaru goes beyond palliatives and relief materials by SEMA and NEMA. We are in dire straits and the Anambra State Government must step in and declare an emergency.
“We cannot have as much as seven communities and several camps cut off and still pretend as though the situation is still normal.
“Governor Soludo and the Anambra State Government must put boots on ground and provide succour to the people of Ogbaru,” Hon. Ogene, who is the Labour Party candidate for Ogbaru Federal Constituency in the coming 2023 general election, added.
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