‘25% of Abia land taken by erosion’

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has claimed that about 25 per cent of the state’s lands have been devastated by erosion.He told the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Uche Ogah, that visited him at Government House, Umuahia, that some of the devastations resulted from mining licences issued by the Federal Government.

The governor decried illegal mining activities and informed the Abia-born minister that through the intervention of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), three critical erosion sites in the state had been reclaimed.The minister assured Abians that as their representative in the Federal Executive Council (FEC), he would always do the needful.