The traditional ruler of Ntalakwu Ancient Kingdom in Itumbauzor, Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, Eze Chike Okorie, has appealed to the Federal Government and the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, to fix the dilapidated Umuokpe Ntalakwu road and address the water crisis in his community.
The monarch, who spoke to DAILY POST about the travails of his people, said the bad road and lack of potable water had worsened economic hardship and health challenges among his subjects.
Eze Okorie, a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, lamented that indigenes living in urban areas found it difficult to access the community, while those living in the village struggled to travel out to access basic amenities.
He appealed to the Federal and Abia State governments to urgently rehabilitate the Umuokpe Ntalakwu road in Itumbauzor, regretting that economic activities had declined drastically, with attendant negative effects on his people, whom he described as predominantly farmers.
He recalled that a vehicle conveying a corpse to the community was recently trapped in mud at one of the dangerous spots along the dilapidated Umuokpe road, forcing youths to carry the casket on their heads to the burial venue.
“Recently, the corpse of our female granddaughter, which was being brought into my community before her burial, as the tradition demands, got stuck because of the deplorable condition of the road,” he lamented.
He said that while Governor Otti and the Federal Government were executing road projects in other parts of Abia, his subjects should not be abandoned to suffer the consequences of the terrible road and lack of potable water.
“My community drinks and bathes from the same community stream because we don’t have any other source, and this is dangerous to the health of my people. We need help,” Eze Chike Okorie bemoaned.
Adding their voices, the President-General of Umuokpe Ntalakwu Concerned Citizens, William Osondu, and the Women Leader, Divine Uka, lamented that residents now struggled to access schools and the market in the community.
They said pupils sometimes fell on the road while trying to navigate the hilly and badly damaged road.
Monarch cries out to FG, Abia govt over dilapidated road, water crisis