“We Are Being Swallowed Alive” – Delta Community Cries Out As River Niger Consume Homes, Farmland

For generations, the people of Onya community in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State lived in close embrace with the River Niger.

The river provided their route, supported their livelihoods and formed part of the community’s identity. But today, the same river that sustained Onya is steadily consuming it.

Residents say about 10 metres of land disappears into the river every year, taking homes, farmland, schools, sacred sites and ancestral burial grounds with it.

The situation has become so severe that community leaders fear Onya could eventually disappear if urgent intervention does not come.

“This is not tenable. Either we go extinct, or we rebuild every five years,” President General of Ndoshimili Development Union, Engr. Ike Onyenokwe, told NDV.

The erosion has reportedly been worsening for more than two decades. During annual flooding, water weakens the riverbanks, and as the flood recedes, large portions of land collapse into the river.

Nothing appears to be spared.

Residents say family homes have been destroyed, the community’s primary school has been rebuilt several times, while shrines and burial grounds have also disappeared beneath the advancing waters.

For some families, the erosion has become painfully personal.

“My grandmother’s house, half of it has already fallen into the water,” community chairman, Mr. Owola Ndozi, said.

But residents say nature is no longer the only force threatening the community.

They allege that the movement of oil barges along the river has accelerated the erosion, with some vessels reportedly passing close to the shoreline at high speed and generating waves that further weaken the riverbank.

Community leaders say they have repeatedly raised concerns and contacted relevant oil companies, but have yet to see the intervention they desperately need.

The consequences extend beyond the loss of land.

Residents reportedly spend between ₦15,000 and ₦20,000 to reach a motorable road and travel towards Asaba-Ase. They also complain of inadequate access to electricity and potable water, describing the community as increasingly cut off from the rest of the state.

“We contribute to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, yet we are thoroughly and completely neglected,” Onyenokwe lamented.

The community is now calling for an urgent, professionally engineered shoreline protection project, saying the scale of the disaster is beyond what residents can handle alone.

They want the Federal Government, Delta State Government, NDDC, NEMA, DESOPADEC, oil companies and other relevant stakeholders to treat the erosion as an emergency.

With the River Niger steadily claiming more land, the people of Onya say they are no longer asking for development alone.

They are asking for survival.

“Our appeal is simple. Hear our cry. Act now. Save Onya before this historic community is lost forever.”