12092018 - APC PRIMARIES: Gov kick against conditions for consensus candidate

28 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
VOL. 2 NO. 37
•The black rain in Ihitte Okwe community. There's no oil well here.
Black rain hits Ihitte Okwe
community
By Chidi Nkwopara,
OWERRI
It is not in doubt that Ihitte
Okwe autonomous
community in Ngor Okpala
Local Government Area of
Imo State, is a completely
rural settlement. It is also
clear that the name of the
community does not ring a
bell. To say that the
community is largely
peaceful and a good chunk
of the population are peasant
farmers, is also a truism.
However, a strange
happening has brought the
community's name to the
front burner. The rains of
September 2018, obviously
did the magic. The scary
event has thrown up the
glaring neglect and possible
marginalisation of the area
by successive governments in
the state.
Going to Ihitte Okwe is
akin to a trip to Golgotha.
No road leading into or out
of the community is paved. To
say that the roads are
waterlogged, especially
during the rainy season,
amounts to being miserly
with the proper adjective to
qualify them.
Responding angrily to the
question posed by South-
East Voice, on the plight of
the indigenes of Ihitte Okwe,
one of the civil servants that
operates from the community,
said: "We have been passing
through untold hardship over
the years. The sorry thing is
that the end of our suffering
appears not to be in sight.
The tragedy is that the
government of the day is not
looking our way. There is no
likelihood that the
administration will be
interested in our welfare
now that it is gradually
winding down."
Giving a graphic account
of the black rain, the
traditional ruler of the
community, Eze Barnabas
Obirieze, said: "The villagers
woke up, like in all the
I became
naturally
alarmed and
as the person
my people look
up to for
virtually
everything, I
took some
photographs
and equally
started making
contacts with
people that
can help
narrate our
experience to
the world
previous days, prepared to go
about their daily chores.
Some were preparing to go
to church. Nobody knew
what was in the offing. Not
too long after daybreak, the
sky darkened. The dark,
thick cloud was palpable.
Nothing about the weather
was strange, and that was
the general feeling of the
people.
"The villagers rightly
interpreted the weather to
mean that it was going to
rain, and possibly, heavily
too! Most people opted to
stay back in their family
homes. It turned out to be
a somewhat wise decision.
"Expectedly, the rain
started and like musical
notes, it rose speedily to a
crescendo. The issue was
no longer the torrential
downpour. What
immediately attracted the
people's attention was the
colour of the rain. It was
completely black!
"The initial thought was
that it could have been
the dirty roofing sheets.
This turned out to be
wrong because, on a
second thought, it was
clear that it was not the
first rain of the year. First
rain, over the past years,
were slightly brownish in
colour, and definitely not
black.
"This was a different
story all together. as even
the flood water flowing
along the unpaved roads
in the community, was
also dark", Obirieze
recounted with a level of
apprehension.
Continuing his
narrative, the soft spoken
but ever cheerful royal
father said that the
experience was strange
and fearful.
"Honestly, the
experience was, and still
remains strange and
fearful, even as I speak to
you today. I remember
that I was in the church
on that fateful day, when
the rain started. It was a
pretty heavy rain. We
tarried for a long while,
waiting for the rain to
subside.
"When it subsided and
we were set to leave the
church, we noticed that
everywhere was black.
The flood water was
black. All the receptacles
in all family homes, were
filled with black water.
Clothes, especially the
white ones, whose owners
hung outside before the
rain, were automatically
decolorised.
"I became naturally
alarmed and as the
person my people look up
to for virtually
everything, I took some
photographs and equally
started making contacts
with people that can help
narrate our experience to
the world.
"I must make it clear
that there is no case of oil
prospecting or
exploration going on
anywhere in my
community. The only
establishment that is some
kilometres away from my
community, is the Imo
Airport. Let me also say
that if the black rain was
midwifed by the aircraft
using the airport, then,
the experience should
have been total, but this
is not the case.
"I have made inquiries
from all the neighbouring
communities and the
result showed that only
the eight villages of Ihitte
Okwe community
experienced the black
rain. I appeal to the state
and Federal Government
agencies responsible for
such occurrences, to
please come and
investigate the matter
and allay our fears. For
now, we are all living in
fear", Eze Obirieze
pleaded.