Living in Cross River’s ravines

A good number of Nigerians, running into hundreds of thousands, are residing in Calabar ravines despite mounting risks. Life bubbles in the many ravines. Hitherto, they had appeared reserves of criminals and homes of poverty-stricken people but today men of all situations and cultures are also dwelling in these dungeons…

Calabar, capital of Cross River State, is a coastal city, surrounded by bodies of water and creeks. The name of the state is actually derived from the popular river which criss-crosses much of it from the upper part of the state into the Atlantic Ocean. 

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Calabar is situated in the rainforest belt. As a result of the pounding of rains and wind, especially during the wet season like now, the town suffers resultant flooding which can be debilitating at times.

The impact of continuous flooding occasioned by poor urban planning has resulted in the development of pits and ravines, many as deep as 60 or more metres.

These ravines are commonplace; they can be found in the outskirts of the cosmopolitan city.

The affected places include Edim Otop, a stone throw from the Margaret Ekpo International Airport and the Nigerian Navy barracks, in Atimbo community. Other communities where ravines found include Nasarawa, Bakoko, 8th Miles, Ikot Nkebre, Edim Otop as well as Nyakassang.

Daily Trust Saturday correspondent took a trip to two of these places under the rain, to observe the lives of the inhabitants of Borrow Pit and Effiong Asim, which play host to about 5,000 people. They are situated deep inside what seemed to have been a canal or actually a massive pit. The description of the depth would be like looking down from a high mountain or from a five-storey building. And when it rains torrentially, the flood with all the mud, debris, fallen trees, plastic pollution, condemned items effortlessly tumble down into where a mass of human beings prefer to make their residential places.

To access Borrow Pit, from the Edim Otop market side where houses, mostly low quality bungalows of few rooms, are clustered, one has to descend a long, concrete staircase, constructed through communal effort at a sum of over N500,000. It is said to have been built a little over a year ago to reduce the  impact of erosion and to avert incessant slipping over by the residents, especially children and elderly women, according to residents.

One of the youth leaders, Richard Steven in his late 30s, who said he came into the community over five years ago: “The community decided to pool resources together to construct the staircase. Many contributed financially while those that could not afford, helped to collect the sand, which is commonplace, while others provided bags of cement and chippings.

The boys helped with direct labour. It is now easier to descend from the upland or ascend without tumbling down as was common before.”

He said the people decided to embark on the project because no help was forthcoming from the government. He added that members of the community are responsible for providing basic infrastructure as well as securing the area.

“In this community, we have a constitution against criminal activities. Thieves are no longer attacking us. We agreed that if anyone is caught, they will be burnt alive. Ever since that decision was taken, we have been at peace. There is calm here in Borrow Pit,” he noted.

Richard lamented, however, that they have to climb to the upper communities daily to fetch water from boreholes because the small stream running through the ravine has been polluted.

“There is a small stream inside this community but we don’t drink from it. We use it for washing only. It is polluted. Therefore, to have clean drinking water we travel up the hills to access borehole water every now and again,” he added.

Richard recollected the challenges he had when he first moved to Borrow Pit, especially having to ascend and descend the hills because of the amount of energy it saps.

“Now I am used to it. It is part of me. Indeed, everyone living here is accustomed to it. No one complains because there is no other choice or alternative,” he said with a smile.

Richard explained that many would not like to leave the community because the rents are low and electricity appears to be constant.

“I pay N3,000 per month for the small room I rented. Some rooms that are tiled go for N4,000. There are others that are even cheaper. Yet I can tell you that though it is cheap, many are still owing their landlords because they cannot afford it,” he said.

The people live as normal as possible. They do not have a common market in the Borrow Pit community, the people here go up the hill to Atimbo and Edim Otop roadside markets to buy foodstuffs and other things they need.

Maria Akpan, 36, a mother of four who resides in the upper community noted that, “when the women who are mothers in Borrow Pit come up, they buy everything they would need for upward of three or four days. This is because it is not easy to climb up and down daily.”  

Lives, properties in the mud

There are many risks associated with ravines, especially that of flood which has many times wreaked havoc and claimed lives and properties as it washes down with mud.

In 2017, eight members of Amos Akaniyene family in Edim Otop ravine community were submerged in a mudslide while three others were critically injured.

This was after heavy rains that lasted several hours. The landslide rolled off a ravine and swallowed the residential building.

The victims include his pregnant wife, Gloria, mother-in-law, Mrs Ikwo Edet Etim, his 7-year-old son David and Emen, 10-year-old daughter, Ekaete and sister-in-law, Asuquo.   

Amos escaped death because he had gone to control the flood generated by the rain so that it would not affect his house. Unfortunately, his efforts were futile as the house was not only submerged, he lost his loved ones, thus leaving devastating and unforgettable impact on him.

Similarly, in July 2022, physically challenged Ndifreke Sylvester lost four children following a landslide in his ravine Okong-Mbang community, off Nasarawa Community in Calabar. 

Unemployed Ndifreke, his wife and two other children had escaped while the other four who were having their meals were submerged.

They spent some weeks in the hospital. Governor Ben Ayade sent the director general of the state primary health-care development agency, Dr Janet Ekpenyong, to visit the family with relief materials, promising to defray the medical bills.  

Neglected, forgotten… without alternative

However, most of the residents claimed that they have been forgotten by the government, especially at the council level. Many of them were afraid to speak about the government over the threat of eviction, which Daily Trust on Sunday learnt, has become a tradition after every disaster in the community.

The youth leader of the community, John Marshall, claimed that the local and state governments have rejected and deceived them over time.

“When the incident of seven years ago happened here, where a house was brought down by the flood, killing an entire family of six, I led other boys to dig up the bodies for proper burial.

“Such other tragic events have happened. What assistance have they ever given to us? We do everything by ourselves. For instance, look at the staircase we constructed.

“But they will come here, commanding that everybody should move out; that it is dangerous to stay here. For God’s sake, where do they want us to move to? Without providing alternatives, you want thousands of people to move away from where they have lived for decades. Move to where?,” he queried.

Lamenting that the government hardly keeps its promises to the people, he added, “When that tragic incident happened, they came and promised several things. Up till now, they have not provided the free electricity they promised. They have deceived us so much.

“We are told that money was voted to do some projects here. Some people must have pocketed it. I am tired of press interviews; they bring no results, they don’t benefit to us here.”

However, residents appealed to the government to construct the road that will link them to the nearby University of Calabar community, called Satellite Town. 

‘Relocate to safer areas’

The Director General of Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Princewill Ayim, said residents of flood-prone communities were advised to comply with government’s earlier admonition to relocate to safer areas to save lives.

Also, the Communications Officer at Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), Mrs Affiong Ani, said in partnership with the World Bank, a lot of interventions have started in flood prone communities, including Ikot Nkebre where floods wreak havoc.

She said they have plans to extend interventions to many ravines and flood prone communities depending, of course, on counterpart funding from the state government.

Despite the attendant risks, it might be very difficult to relocate the people from the ravines when alternative residential arrangements have not been made.