Amakohia-Ikeduru on the brink: How erosion swallowed Imo community, residents fight back

From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri Enugu
It was once the pride of Ikeduru. A short, busy road that linked farmers to market, children to school and the sick to the health centre. Today, Okwu Ikeduru in Amakohia-Ikeduru is a tale of a deep, angry scar.
The gully is now more than 30 feet deep in some places. What used to be a tarred community road has been sliced into two. Red muddy water gushes with force whenever it rains, pulling houses, economic trees and farmlands into its belly. Vehicles no longer pass. Motorcycles no longer dare. Residents now trek miles through bush paths to get home.
“It has become impassable,” says Pa Josephat Nwaokoro, 78, whose family house sits dangerously cl...