The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has donated relief materials worth several millions of naira to the people of Ogwuanocha and Ogwuikpele communities in the Ogbaru Federal Constituency of Anambra State.
The items were facilitated by the member representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency of Anambra State in the House of Representatives and chairman of the House Committee on Renewable Energy, Hon Afam Ogene.
Hon. Ogene, a Labour Party (LP) member and LP caucus leader in the House of Representatives, had in a motion he moved during the House plenary narrated a heart-rending plight of the people of the two communities.
In the motion, he narrated that while the people of Ogwuanocha have been living as refugees in camps in their neighbouring communities since 2021 as a result of internal communal skirmishes in the area, their Ogwuikpele counterparts have been passing through unbearable hardships due to a seemingly intractable flood disaster ravaging the bank of River Niger community and a total absence of any government presence.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony for the distribution of the relief items at the Iyiowa-Odekpe area of Ogbaru local government area at the weekend, South East Zonal coordinator of NEMA, Mrs Ngozi Echeazu commended Hon. Ogene for being passionate and responsive concerning the welfare of people of his constituency.
She said, “We want to thank everybody for coming and to let you know that the facilitator of the federal government’s interventionist measure and to remember you people through FEMA is your son Honourable Afam Victor Ogene. You people voted for him; continue to support and vote for him in subsequent elections. He was the one who approached the presidency and complained about the problem on ground within the communities some time ago and that the federal government had not come to the aid of his people, and that’s why today we are here to offer our help. He wrote to us, which made us bring all these things.”
“We are here today to flag off the distribution exercise of the relief materials. The items of donation and distribution are for the people of Ogwuanocha and Ogwuikpele communities. We also have other people to attain within the state in no distant time. We don’t want the crisis to continue, and we are ready to listen to Hon. Ogene in future. We are here with officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and Local Government Emergency Committee,” Echeazu stated.
She urged the people to conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and to rally their support to the LP lawmaker for more assistance of democratic dividends and effective representation at the National Assembly.
Hon. Ogene, at the event, donated the sum of one million naira to the leadership of Ogwuanocha and tasked them to deploy the money into putting in place peace processes to enable the people return to their homes.
Also, Hon Ogene had, within the week empowered over one hundred youths with a skills training programme on Renewable Energy to make them meaningful and engage them in productive ventures as responsible members of the society.
The three-day training exercise was organised in collaboration with the Border Communities Agency (BCDA) and MODESCOM Solution Ltd, focusing on solar energy installation maintenance and equipping beneficiaries with practical skills to thrive in the renewable energy sector.
However, the items distributed to the IDPs include hundreds of bedding materials (foam and mats); hundreds of food items, including bags of rice, garri, gallons of groundnut oil, seasonings, noodles; baby wears, wrappers, towels, rubber buckets and others.
Recall that the two oil-rich communities, particularly the Ogwuaniocha community was in November 2021 sacked by gunmen who invaded the palace of the 71-year-old traditional ruler of the community, HRH Igwe Oliver Nnaji and abducted him to an unknown destination and his palace also burnt down by the irate hoodlums.
Sadly, the Ogwuaniocha people are currently taking refuge in neighbouring communities following the crisis which engulfed the area and led to the death of several persons as well as the wanton destruction of properties.
Investigations revealed that the state government has abandoned the communities in Ogbaru LGA to their fate without a single infrastructure nor street light following allegations that the people did not cast their votes for the state Governor Charles Soludo during the 2021 governorship election that brought the All Progressives Grand Alliance led government to power.
Worst as the situation is, the 30 kilometres stretch of road leading from Onitsha – to Ogbaru is presently deplorable and impassable, with residents of Ogbaru and others living along the route, including commuters paying as high as N500 as against N200 to and fro short-distance locations. At the same time, motorists suffer excruciating pains on a daily basis.
