Nigerian community threatened by intense ground erosion

A village in southern Nigeria is threatened as soil erosion has caused severe issues.

People have started abandoning their residences while farming and other land activities have been paused.

A local creek is rapidly eroding and, currently, when it rains the water enters and floods people's houses. Local population has lost almost everything. Every time they try to grow cultivate the land, erosion devastates the crops.

The floods destroy everything in their path, including animals. The major resources of local incomes have deteriorated. Therefore, the quality of life has significantly dropped and many cannot survive in those conditions.

"The erosion has destroyed everything in my house. When the flood water comes in it kills all my poultry. The flood water can enter through the window," a local woman said. Another resident describes the problem they have to tackle with the river. "We can no longer catch the small fish to bait he big ones. The flood has brought in a huge amount of sand and blocked this river. We had to bring a caterpillar truck to clear the sand so our boats can sail," he stated.

The community's electricity facilities are also threatened. Ground erosion has caused the transmission towers to tilt and some are on the edge of collapse. If the issue is not addressed promptly, local infrastructure will suffer critical damage and the region may be abandoned. According to locals, experts assessed the situation but decided not to resolve it. "They came here once but left and then nothing changed," a resident stated. "We are helpless and asking the government to come to our rescue," another one added.