Gully erosion gobbling homes in Abaji

Threats from Gully erosion at Anguwar Wadata new extension in Abaji, has force the residents to abandon their houses and relocate to neighbouring Anguwar Biri in the area. When our reporter visited the area at the weekend, he  observed that the gully had expanded and was about swallowing up homes that now stand precariously on […]

Threats from Gully erosion at Anguwar Wadata new extension in Abaji, has force the residents to abandon their houses and relocate to neighbouring Anguwar Biri in the area.

When our reporter visited the area at the weekend, he  observed that the gully had expanded and was about swallowing up homes that now stand precariously on its edges.  

Malam Abdullahi Saidu, spokesman of the community, said the gully erosion was a nightmare to the people by the scale of its degradation, adding that they have sleepless nights whenever it rained heavily.

He said residents had raised funds and attempted to control the erosion by filling the gully with laterite, but that did not work.

He added that the erosion had cut off the residents from Abaji town, and that the people had to take a detour around  a swampy area before getting to Abaji town.

Saidu also said residents that own cars had to park them at friends’ and relatives’ houses at Wadata area of the town since the erosion had destroyed the road.

“In fact, as I speak to you now, the main road which links us to Anguwar Ayaura to Abaji town has also been cut off. Our women who go to Abaji market or area council workers who go to the secretariat every working day usually take a long detour across a stream and whenever it  rains heavily, nobody can pass through there again until the next day,” he said.

He, however, said the elders were making arrangement to set up a committee that would meet with the chairman of the area council, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya, to find a solution to the erosion problem. 

Mr. Sunday Ezekiel, a resident of the area who spoke with our reporter said the gully erosion was at the verge of eating up his house, which he built just a year ago.

He said the erosion had already brought down the fence forcing him to use zinc to cover  the open space. 

“I built this three bedroom flat early last year and you can see how the erosion is gradually threatening the house. My worry now is if this house eventually collapses, where will I get money to build another one? I know how I worked hard before God helped me to raise money to build this one,” he said.

Ezekiel said he was advised by a friend to take pictures of the erosion site and present them to the Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa and the chairman of the council, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya, so that they can see how the gully erosion is threatening houses in the area.

Mrs. Rebecca Ayuba, a landlady, who has a house in the area, told our reporter that erosion had forced her to stop work on a house she was building in the area, adding that already work had reached the lintel level.

She said she engaged the services of labourers who use said bags to support part of her house that was caving in.  She that was just a temporary solution that did not have long lasting impact.

She, therefore, appealed to the FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, to as a matter of urgency come to the aid of residents of the area.

Reacting, the chairman of the council, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya, blamed the residents of the area for building houses on waterways.

“This is what we are saying; some people will just go and acquire land at the river bank or on waterways and start building without minding what may follow later. We had the same problem in Abattoir. That is why every year, we have destruction of houses and property whenever there was heavy rainfall because the people who built there refused to heed advice,”  he said.

The chairman said he would direct the works department of the council to visit the area  and assess the gully erosion  menace. He said the pictures  would be accompanied by a letter he would write to the FCT minister.

He said  the gully erosion  at Anguwar Wadata was being controlled by the Ecological Fund office early this year, which he said would soon be commissioned by the FCT minister.