Late Miss Awhobiwom Ukah.
By Anietie Akpan
Residents of Calabar and the Ctoss River State Government have traded blames over the Good Friday flood incident that drowned and swept away Miss Awhobiwom Ukah, a second year Nursing student of the Federal College of Nursing Sciences, Calabar.
The 25-year-old nursing student on Tuesday, April 22, had slipped into a wide and deadly gutter along Ediba road near Marian market and was swept away into the about four kilometre Calabar Channel one drainage from the Ediba axis that spans through Big Qua, Barracks road, Bogobiri by Maryslessor, Target by Goldie street, crossing into Murray street, Palm street, crossing Inyang street before emptying into the swampy area of CRUTECH, now the University of Cross River State (UNICROS) in Ekpo Abasi area.
Another stretch of the drainage is the Chanel two of 1.7 Kilometres that evacuates water from State housing and its environs to the Calabar River in Essien Town, diverting water from the WAPPI junction axis of the Murtala Mohammed highway.
However, after five days of search, since she was swept away by floodwaters during a heavy downpour on the Good Friday, the swollen body of Miss Ukah, was recovered from the Palm street axis of the giant Calabar channel one drainage.
This means that the drain must have traveled with the innocent Nursing student through the deadly channel for over four kilometres before she was waged at the Palm street axis.
Some residents of Calabar have blamed successive state governments that have neglected the maintenance of drainages or even covering them with slabs to avoid reoccurring disasters over the years.
They called for on the Governor Bassey Otu led government for an urgent intervention by fixing all open gutters in Ediba and other areas in Calabar following the tragic Good Friday incident.
The deceased according to eyewitnesses, had attended the Stations of the Cross and Good Friday Mass at Holy Family Catholic Church in Big Qua Town near the bustling Marian Market in Calabar Municipal Local Government Area (LGA), when the heartbreaking incident occurred.
Eyewitnesses said, Miss Ukah “was walking home with her umbrella in around 8 p.m. with other parishioners when she slipped into a flooded and poorly lit gutter in the night after a heavy downpour that had flooded the streets near Eastern Secondary School”.
“She was shouting for help. We tried to reach her, but the current was too strong. Then we couldn’t hear her anymore.” a source close to the family said.
A resident of the area, Mrs. Eno Effiom, almost in tears said, “this is not the first time we have lost someone to these open gutters. Every time it rains, the roads turn into rivers. We have pleaded with the government for years, but nothing changes, at least they should try and cover the gutters”.
Another eye witness, Emmanuel Orok described the incident as traumatic saying, “she was someone’s daughter, a future nurse. Her death is a result of negligence. We can’t keep losing lives like this,” he said charging the state government “to do something very urgent before another life is lost”.
The Chairperson of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Cross River State Chapter, Josephine Bassey, confirmed the incident and expressed her condolences.
She described the flood incident as “very unfortunate. I only got to know she was a student nurse after seeing posts online. She had just gotten into her second year. We pray for strength for her family and the college to bear this loss”.
Meanwhile family sources said her remains were deposited at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital morgue and was later on Wednesday, April 23, transported to her hometown, Ohong community in Obudu Local Government Area, for burial on.
Reacting to the tragedy, the Cross River State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Moses Osoji, expressed deep sympathy to the family and described the incident as both unfortunate and preventable.
Osoji acknowledged the pain and grief such a loss brings saying the government shares in the sorrow of the affected family but stressed that while the government has taken proactive steps to address flood risks — including desilting gutters and preparing for the rainy season since December — community behavior remains a major challenge.
He said, “no government wants to see lives lost in such a manner, we have done a lot of work to mitigate flooding, but when people continue to dump waste into open drains instead of using bins, it undermines those efforts.”
“The flood is not just a government problem. It’s a community issue. Until attitudes change, we will continue to see tragedies like this”, Osuji stated, emphasizing the need for collective responsibility and urged residents to adopt safer, more environmentally conscious habits.
