A widow in Peaceland Community, Calabar, Cross River State, has appealed to the government to save her home from an expanding ravine, saying the property was the only inheritance left for her and her three children by her late husband, who died in 2018.

The widow and other residents, who spoke to The Guardian during  a visit to the ravine, said recent rains had worsened the situation, with several houses already swallowed or abandoned and others dangerously close to the expanding erosion channel.

Mrs Ekanem Inyang said she could no longer sleep whenever it rains for fear that her house could collapse, as the building is now only about five metres from the edge of the ravine.

“When the rain falls, I will not be able to sleep. Please, the government should help me because I don’t have any hope. We don’t have any way to go,” she said.

The community leader, Johnson Eteng, said the ravine had already claimed properties belonging to residents, while several families had been forced to relocate.

Eteng, a pastor and landlord in the area, said some buildings were now less than three metres from the edge of the ravine, warning that continued rainfall could trigger further collapses.

He said residents had made several attempts to control the erosion by planting bamboo and using discarded trailer tyres to reinforce sections of the ravine, but the efforts had been overwhelmed by the force of the water.

Another resident, Patrick Okon, described the ravine as “very active”, saying several residents had already been displaced and more houses could be lost if the rains persist.

Okon called on the Cross River State Government, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ministries of Works and Environment, and New Map to urgently intervene, saying immediate engineering measures were needed to protect the remaining buildings pending comprehensive remediation.

He disclosed that a Senior Special Assistant to Governor Bassey Otu had visited the community several months ago and informed residents that the ravine was among the four most life-threatening ravines in Calabar and had been captured in the New Map budget for intervention.

However, the residents said they were yet to see tangible intervention, despite the ravine’s continued expansion, urging the government and development partners to act before more homes are lost.