Senate calls for ecological fund launch as erosion, landslides ravage Cross River

The Senate Tuesday urged the Federal Government to urgently launch funds from the Ecological Fund to deal with gully erosion and landslides threatening communities in Cross River South Senatorial District.

The decision adopted a movement of pressing nationwide significance by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (Cross River South) on the ecological emergency in Calabar metropolis and adjoining communities.

Ekpenyong listed affected communities as Atakpa, Edim Otop, Ikot Effangha Mkpa, Nyaghasang, Ikot Anwatim, Nasarawa/Bacoco, Akai Effa, Bayside and Summit Hills, with landslides threatening Anansa.

He mentioned the disasters had brought about deaths, displacement and destruction of property, leaving households traumatised and survivors struggling to rebuild.

The lawmaker recalled {that a} July 2026 landslide at Ikot Anwatim killed 5 individuals, together with 4 siblings from one household, destroyed two homes and injured two residents.

Another landslide at Edim Otop, he mentioned, claimed the lifetime of an eight-year-old lady.

Ekpenyong lamented that folks had buried youngsters whereas survivors misplaced houses and livelihoods, with unstable slopes nonetheless threatening extra communities.

He blamed poorly designed drainage, speedy urbanisation, blocked drains, indiscriminate waste disposal, unregulated sand mining, vegetation elimination and poor land-use practices.

The senator warned that remoted remedial initiatives with out coordinated watershed planning may switch erosion dangers to neighbouring areas.

“Further delay risks additional deaths, deeper displacement and greater destruction. This emergency demands immediate mobilisation of federal resources, including the Ecological Fund,” he mentioned.

He known as for non permanent shelter, meals, medical and psychosocial assist for victims, and protected evacuation for residents in imminent hazard.

in his contribution, Senator Sampson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South), sympathised with the folks of Cross River South and backed pressing intervention.

The Senate urged the Federal Government to approve, allocate and launch satisfactory sources for emergency stabilisation and complete remediation.

It additionally requested the Federal Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with Cross River Government and related businesses, to evaluate harmful websites and begin emergency protecting works.

The higher chamber directed the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, the State Emergency Management Agency and native councils to offer quick help to bereaved and displaced households.

It additional known as for early-warning programs and steady monitoring of unstable websites to allow well timed evacuation, urging Ministries of Environment and Works to prioritise erosion-control initiatives in Cross River with correct geotechnical and hydrological assessments.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio mandated the Senate Committee on Environment to evaluate affected places and present interventions, interact accountable businesses on funding and implementation, and report again for additional legislative motion.