Landslide threat: Akwa Ibom church insures 500 members

A parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God along the Uyo Village Road, has insured the lives of 500 of its members following a warning by the Akwa Ibom State Government that the area is prone to landslide.

The government had after the collapse of the Reigner’s Bible Church, in which scores lost their lives, issued evacuation notice to all the owners of property along the Uyo Village Road on the grounds that the area was prone to disaster.

It was learnt that the Akwa Ibom State Government in 2000 designated the area as forest reserve and declared all the structures erected in the place as illegal.

Speaking during a media interaction in Uyo on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Mr Ime Ekpo, said the RCCG and other property owners had refused to move out of the disaster-prone area, despite the evacuation notice served on them.

According to him, government had to order the RCCG to insure the lives of its members in case the church building collapsed during a service since the church had refused to heed government’s directives to quit the area.

“They say they have approval. But I will like to see such approval. That church (Redeemed Christians Church of God) structure, we have already given them demolition notice.

“When they came begging, I told them that in about three to four years, that structure will come down on its own because the erosion behind the church is very active.

“By the time we went on inspection, even the first fence they erected had gone down.

“So, what I insisted they should do is to post an insurance of 500 worshippers so that if anything happens, the families will have something to fall back on.

“So, they have done that and I have made sure that it is active on a yearly basis.

“There are a lot of illegal structures in Uyo. In this ministry we have already set up a demolition committee. We have already identified structures that we need to bring down so that others will also know that before they erect a structure they must get approval,” Ekpo said.