Members of Aguleri Otu, Enugu Otu, Ezi-Agulu Otu and Mkpunando Otu Aguleri communities in Anambra East Local Council of Anambra State, have decried the activities of sand dredgers near the bank of Agbanabo Ezu na Omambala.

It was gathered that the Anambra East Sand Miners Association is responsible for the unwholesome activities.

Traditional Ruler of Mkpunando Otu Aguleri community, Igwe Johnson Mbanefo, disclosed this to newsmen after a tour of the site at the banks of the river along Odene Aguleri-Enugu Otu Road.

He lamented the absence of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), before the sand miners embarked on their activities, which is not a welcome development.

According to him, the erosion and destructive dredging of sand at the bank of the river is being done by settlers and indigenes, which is condemnable.

The monarch observed that the destructive sand mining along the bank of the river was encroaching on the nearby road and farmlands, noting that the threatened road leads to oil-producing communities where the oil well of Orient Petroleum Resources Refinery are sited.

Mbanefo, who is the Deputy Chairman of Anambra North Traditional Rulers Council, noted: “The road side is collapsing, and the edge is shrinking. It was former Governor Willie Obiano who constructed the road for the first time. Governor Chukwuma Soludo is investing heavily in road infrastructure.”

He recalled that members of the affected communities had protested against activities of the dredgers which he disclosed were encroaching on the road infrastructure, destroying farmlands, and soil.

Three years ago, he revealed, a committee was set up to look into the complaints, after which it issued guidelines, including the provision of a 100-metre distance between the road and the river bank.

Igwe Mbanefo described the guidelines as deceitful to the members of the public because an EIA was supposed to have been done before. (The Guardian)