Save Our Souls! Umuhu Ezechi Clan Cries Out

The good people of Umuhu Ezechi in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State has cried out over long years of neglect in road infrastructure by successive governments in the state.

In a post which has gone viral on social media, the community lamented that despite the agricultural potential of the community, government at the local and state levels have failed to give them access road to move out their farm produce.

Umuhu Ezechi which is bordered by communities such as, Igbere, Ozuitem, Abirirba, Amaeke Abam and Abam, taunted as the food basket of Bende has not found it easy to connect with the rest of the world due to poor road infrastructure.

According to the post circulating on social media, the community is known to produce items such as: garri, palm oil, palm kernel, plantain and melon seeds in a commercial quantities.

Apart from road infrastructure, the clan has been behind in electricity. Although power lines connect the clan to other border communities, the clan has not had supply for many years now.

Sources close to the community said they have in the past made some communal efforts to restore power supply to the clan but to no avail.

As it stands, the reason for the black out is still unexplainable to the indegenes, having pumped millions of naira to effect a change that ended in futility.

When Dreamnews contacted a traditional ruler in the community HRM Eze Michael Olu (Egbeigiri 1 of Egbeigiri Autonomous Community), for fact finding, he lamented that the situation has become worrisome adding that the only secondary school in the clan, Community Secondary School Amazu Umuhu Ezechi is lacking teachers, same applies to the four public primary schools in the clan.

“We have been in this situation for many years and it seems the government forgot us. But then, sometime ago, the then Mayor of Bende LGA, Bar. Chijioke Nwankwo, sent us bulldozer to grade the road that stretched from Amaeke, through Umuhu to Abirirba. But the grading started in Umuhu Ezechi and stopped at Amaeke which did not last”, Eze Michael said.

He continued, “You know the road is mostly of clay soil composition and once the rainy season sets in, the whole place is messed up. The road has been abandoned for many years now. There’s another road from Ozuitem to Umuhu Ezechi, that one too is not in use due to its condition. I don’t want to talk about the one from Umuhu to Abirirba, that road has not been in use due to years of neglect.”

“We have tried what we can do as a clan plus individual efforts but all did not come to fruition. Some of our sons at one time or the other have graded these roads. The community has done communal work to ameliorate the situation but here we are”, he concluded.

While appreciating the governor of the state, Dr Alex Otti for his giant strides in infrastructural development in the state, Eze Michael called on the government to come to their aid.