Nigerian Senate and House call for emergency erosion intervention in Bayelsa

The Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives have issued urgent calls for federal intervention to combat devastating erosion and shoreline instability in Bayelsa State communities, specifically Obogoro and Odi Kingdom.

In the Senate, Senator Benson Kombowei sponsored a motion highlighting the threat to the Obogoro community, noting that decades of aggressive erosion have caused loss of life, property, and livelihoods. Recent impacts include approximately 300 people being rendered homeless and the destruction of schools, community playgrounds, and youth corps lodges. The Senate has requested that the Federal Government provide shoreline protection and urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials to victims.

Simultaneously, the House of Representatives called for an emergency assessment of the erosion disaster in Odi Kingdom, one of the oldest Ijaw settlements. Following a devastating earth tremor and intensified erosion in 2025, residential buildings and farmlands have collapsed. The House urged the Federal Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Works, and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to collaborate on permanent shoreline protection, land reclamation, and environmental restoration to prevent the community's disappearance.