By Samuel Ogenyi, Uyo
Three children on Sunday escaped death by the whiskers in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, following a landslide which swallowed a kitchen and cuts off Asutan street into two halves.
The children ,Aisha Umaru 9,Yusuf Ibrahim,6 and Fatima Ibrahim 5, had barely left the kitchen after preparing their evening meals when the landslide occurred at about 8pm.
Speaking with newsmen in Uyo on Monday,. the landlord of the affected house, located at no 16 Asutan street, Uyo.Mr Francis Ikpe, described the landslide as devastating, adding that it was a miraculous escape for the children.
“It was a devastating experience.Three children were preparing their meals in the kitchen. After they left the kitchen, it was not even up to five minutes, when the kitchen collapsed.
“The children were eating when suddenly there was a bang and the kitchen and everything inside it buried. They would have been trapped; it was a miracle”. Ikpe said.
The landlord said the community had been living with the erosion for the past 30 years, adding that the dimension was not as disastrous was it turned out to be now.
He said the problem became serious when the state government decided to embark on street repairs and construction of drainages,saying water from six adjoining streets had been channeled to the place without a chamber constructed to receive the volume of water
“Iam the landlord of no 16, Asutan street, the compound that is badly threatened by the erosion.We have lived with the erosion for more than 30 years, the dimension was not as disatrous as it is now.
“But when the state government decided to embark on massive streets repairs and drainages, water from the six adjoining streets, including barracks road, have been diverted to the place and no chamber was done to receive the water.
“A lot of damage has been caused to that place. Whenever it rains the volume of water increases and this has been posing threats to lives and properties” he said.
On relocation order by the state government, Ikpe said ” I just heard that a surveyor came here.and address is sometimes ago. He brought a document purported to have been written by the state government in 2011, but no landlord has ever seen that document and there is indication that the landlords acknowledged receipt of the document”the landlord said.
But the commissioner of Environment,.Mr Charles Udoh in a chat with newsmen implored residents of the area to relocate urgently to avoid disaster.
Udoh further stated that government is taking steps to help them relocate to safer location and would come up with an effective drainage system to combart the menace.
