The rural village, which has been suffering from severe flooding, has pleaded with the appropriate state and federal authorities to assist them.
They are pleading with the government, among other things, to prevent the well-known Umeh bridge from crumbling in the wake of the devastating flood that has driven everyone from their homes.
Simon Emamo, the president-general of the Umeh community, revealed to INFOGONG on Friday that both of the bridge's expansion joints are already beginning to cave in from below while watching as local teenagers brought sand bags to fill the bridge's failed sections.
The bridge may fall in a matter of minutes, he continued, unless the Delta state government immediately steps in to support the locals' attempts to stop the impending collapse of the bridge.
The East-West Road and other areas of Delta State are both accessible from Umeh Kingdom only via the bridge. The only access road and bridge, which cost more than N4 billion, were built by Emmanuel Uduaghan in response to the plight of our people, who had been ignored and marginalized by previous administrations.
"We cannot allow this priceless gift from Uduaghan's immediate government to be lost to flooding. We request urgent assistance from Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, President Muhammadu Buhari, and other relevant government officials and multinational organizations. We must take this Save Our Soul message seriously, Emamowho pleaded.
According to information obtained by INFOGONG, a commercial bus operating on the Ughelli/Port Harcourt part of the East-West Road on Thursday fell into a river while returning from Port Harcourt, Rivers state, at the Umeh village junction.
Following the flooding of major roadways, Duncan Afahokor, a community leader and attorney from Umeh, has urged the federal authorities to immediately restrict the East-West Road to traffic in order to prevent any additional fatalities.
However, Afahokor revealed that following the unprecedented flooding throughout the Isoko nation, a group of Isoko people from within and outside of Nigeria met and created the "Isoko Floods Initiative," with the aim of performing volunteer work and giving special attention to the provision of food and medical care to the victims and vulnerable women and children affected by the flood.
Evelyn Aluta is the group's team leader, and Afahokor will act as his assistant team leader, according to Afahokor.
In the meantime, a middle-aged mother of five who was reportedly sleeping killed on Thursday when her chamber flooded in the Ikpide-Irri riverine hamlet in the state's Isoko South council area.
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