The Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District, Senator Victor Umeh, has called on the Federal Government to declare the district an ecological disaster zone following worsening flooding and gully erosion that have destroyed houses, displaced residents and claimed at least one life.
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Umeh made the call during an inspection of erosion-ravaged areas in Awka, the Anambra State capital, where several buildings have reportedly collapsed into expanding gullies following heavy rainfall. He also visited the family of a six-year-old schoolboy who died after being swept away by floodwaters.
The senator said the scale of the ecological devastation had gone beyond what affected residents could address through individual or community efforts and required immediate federal intervention.
According to him, Anambra Central is facing widespread erosion and flooding across its local government areas, with communities in Awka, Obosi and Ogidi among those recently affected.
Umeh recalled that he had visited erosion and flood sites in Obosi and Ogidi in the Idemili axis only weeks earlier, adding that the latest destruction in Awka showed that the environmental crisis was spreading across the senatorial district.
He said several buildings around the affected areas remained under threat, warning that continued rainfall could cause further collapses and displacement.
“All the buildings around here are under threat,” Umeh said, stressing that the expanding gully required immediate remedial action to prevent further destruction.
He argued that the most effective response would be for the Federal Government to formally declare Anambra Central an ecological disaster zone, enabling the Ecological Office under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to treat the situation as an emergency.
Umeh said residents could no longer contain the erosion through temporary remedial works and called for coordinated intervention by the Federal Government and relevant agencies.
The senator disclosed that a motion relating to erosion and flooding in Idemili North and Idemili South Local Government Areas was already pending before the Senate.
He said he would update the motion to incorporate the latest devastation in Awka and other affected parts of Anambra Central when legislative activities resume, in order to draw wider federal attention to the crisis.
Umeh had earlier raised similar concerns after inspecting erosion sites in Obosi and Ogidi, where he described the scale of the destruction as beyond what the state government and affected communities could handle alone. He had also indicated that he would engage the Federal Government and relevant ministries over the worsening situation.
During his latest visit, the senator also inspected affected properties, including an area linked to retired senior police officer Celestine Okoye, who appealed for government intervention and said residents were living in fear as the erosion continued to threaten homes.
Umeh further paid a condolence visit to the family of six-year-old Success Ezenwafor, who died after a vehicle conveying schoolchildren became trapped in floodwater in Awka South earlier in the week.
Reports said other occupants of the vehicle were rescued, but the child was swept away by the flood and later found dead.
The senator described the death as painful and reiterated that urgent action was necessary to prevent further loss of lives and property.
Umeh maintained that the ecological challenges confronting the district should be treated beyond partisan considerations, arguing that the continued destruction of homes, roads and available land posed a direct threat to residents and the future of communities in Anambra Central.
He said the scale of the crisis required sustained federal intervention rather than temporary measures, warning that large sections of the district could face further devastation if the erosion and flooding were allowed to continue unchecked.
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