A tragic landslide triggered by torrential rainfall over the weekend has claimed the lives of four siblings and one other person in Ikot Awatin community, located within the Calabar municipality of Cross River State. The disaster occurred barely three days after heavy floodwaters killed a one-year-old child and destroyed properties worth millions of naira along Mayne Avenue by Atu Street in the Calabar South Local Government Area.
The deceased siblings were identified as 18-year-old Bright Kingsley Edu, 12-year-old Godswill Kingsley Edu, 11-year-old Daniel Kingsley Edu, and 10-year-old Richard Kingsley Edu. The victims, who were the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley Edu, were buried alive alongside a petroleum depot tanker driver identified simply as Mr. Udo. Community youths worked through the night using shovels and their bare hands to dig through the collapsed earth and rubble. By the time the rescue efforts were concluded, all five individuals were recovered dead.
The mother of the deceased children, Mrs. Mercy Kingsley Edu, who is popularly known in the community as Mama Uwana, had taken her children to a church evening service on Friday. As the downpour intensified, the children left the church before her to beat the storm home. Their father, a security officer, was away on official duty at the time. Upon arriving home, the children changed into dry clothes and lay down to rest. They were unaware that the heavily saturated soil above their residential building was about to give way. Moments later, the earth collapsed, burying the entire structure and trapping them underneath the debris.
Mrs. Edu, a waterleaf farmer who lost her offspring and all her worldly possessions to the disaster, expressed deep sorrow at the scene on Saturday.
"Everything was buried in the landslide, taking my children and leaving us hopeless and homeless," she lamented.
"Why me?" she wailed, adding, "Four out of seven are gone in one day. My husband never buys anything for himself because he wants his children to go to school, three boys and a girl, all gone."
Her husband, Mr. Kingsley Edu, remained speechless at the scene as neighbors and sympathizers gathered to console the couple. Following the recovery of their bodies, the four siblings were buried shortly after, while the remains of Mr. Udo were deposited in a local mortuary. The sudden incident has left his family struggling to cope with the loss of their breadwinner.
Shocked by the magnitude of the destruction, local residents and sympathizers called on the Cross River State Government and philanthropic Nigerians to provide urgent relief to the displaced and bereaved Edu family.
In response to the tragedy, the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, led by its Director-General, Mr. Efa Nyong, conducted a three-hour on-the-spot assessment of the location on Saturday. The agency worked alongside the Disaster Management Unit of the Nigerian Red Cross Society. The assessment team included the Disaster Management Officer of the Red Cross, Mr. Agbor Okim, and the Head of Relief and Rehabilitation at CR-SEMA, Mrs. Preye Obo. The officials inspected the wreckage, held talks with the grieving relatives, and evaluated the scale of the damage.
Mr. Nyong described the loss of the young children as heartbreaking. He extended the condolences of the state government to the families affected and promised that the administration would collaborate with relevant partners to deliver necessary support. He stated that the assessment exercise would help structure the intervention of the government, covering immediate humanitarian assistance and long-term strategies to minimize the risk of future environmental disasters.
The CR-SEMA boss also advised residents living in areas prone to erosion and landslides to maintain vigilance, report any noticeable soil movements or ground cracks immediately, and work with emergency officials whenever evacuation plans are initiated.
Speaking on behalf of the families affected by the disaster, Mr. Bassey Patrick appreciated the swift response of the assessment team despite the challenging conditions. He appealed for additional emergency aid for the survivors who had lost their loved ones and were struggling to navigate the aftermath of the incident.
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