Angry youths drawn from the Iboko Offot axis of Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, on Thursday, besieged the portion of Abak Road, where a 60-year-old woman was swept away by flood occasioned by Wednesday’s first torrential rain of the year.
The woman, said to be a petty trader along Nkemba street, lives close to the scene of the incident, according to Anietie Sam, a local resident of the street. He added that the incident happened at about 4:30 pm on Wednesday.
He added that the woman was returning from the market where she went to buy her goods for sale when she was swept away and eventually drowned in open drainage.
“We made efforts to rescue her when we noticed she was being swept away uncontrollably by the flood.
“Before we got to her, the fast-moving water had already drawn her closer to an open hole linking the underground drainage facility,” Anietie said.
He recalled that “officials of the state waste management and environmental protection agency, had opened the slabs to remove sewage and cleared the drains, but failed to cover it back about three years.”
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Vehicles plying the road to Abak, Etinan and other adjoining parts of the state, had a hectic time navigating through Ukana Offot, Nkemba and Clement Isong streets, to get out of the capital.
Comrade Effiong Asuquo, one of the protesters, blamed the Ministry of Environment and Solid Minerals for what he described as “lack of sincere commitment to environmental protection,” vowing that “we will remain here until the state government recovers the remains of the aged woman and adequate compensation given for proper burial.”
However, the Commissioner for Environment and Solid Mineral, Sir Charles Udoh, expressed a deep sense of sadness over the incident and appealed for calm as frantic efforts were on to retrieve the corpse for burial.
“I am on the spot of the incident right now to find the dead body. So, I have ordered for equipment to come. We need to break the slabs and the gutters so we can pull them to find the dead body.
“After that, I will do a proposal to the governor on how to prevent future occurrences,” he assured.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Odiko Macdon, did not answer several calls made to his phone.