A DATE IN HISTORY - BUANCHOR, JULY 12, 2012

 

Peter Nandi Bette

This date, July 12, 2012 was a Saturday. All was set for the annual BUANCHOR  KIJIIH- EWAH (CASSAVA) CULTURAL FESTIVAL which had been rescheduled from the usual date of 16 July to the 2nd weekend of the month to allow for more participation.

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It had been raining cats and dogs all through the previous day and night. It continued throughout that Saturday.

The Primary School field was the venue for the celebration, so the 56 pupils that were to write the Primary 6 Placement Examination that day were to go and do so at the nearby Community Secondary School Assembly Hall. But the pupils couldn't go there yet as it was still raining heavily and the Supervisor was yet to show up.

Late in the afternoon, the Akaah mountain (in pic here) at whose base Buanchor community is situated exploded sort of, and rumbled gushing out torrential hot water that flowed down uprooting and sending  down mighty trees and rocks and voluminously swelled the KAALA RIVER, causing it to diverse it's course into the community and the Secondary School. 

The house brought down by VP's chopper.

The nightmare lasted for close to an hour. The overflooded Kaala river swept away the concrete bridge across the Kaala, and all those along the road leading to  Katabang, the next community. It also destroyed over 20 buildings in the community and did incalculable havoc to the Secondary School.

Part of the Staff Quarters, Classroom blocks, the Laboratory / Library block staff quarters and the  Assembly.hall were either swept away or buried in the sand. In fact, only the roof of the Assembly Hall was visible on the surface of the earth.

A settlement in Buanchor Community

Many farmlands were devastated as the hot water that flowed through them burned off food crops, cocoa and plantation/banana plantations worth millions of Naira.

Luckily no life was lost, as it was an off-farm festival day hence every one was at home.

The State Deputy Governor, Effiok Cobham who visited in the aftermath attributed the disaster to human activities on the environment.

Months later Vice President Namadi Sambo came to inspect disaster sites and the heavy breeze from one of the choppers on his entourage blew off the building occupied by an aged woman and her family.

Till date, no scientific research has been carried out to inquire into the actual cause of the disaster. 

Incidentally, the AKAAH mountain is the home base of the  Cross River State gazzetted Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS).

The Akaah (Afi) mountain.

Will this disaster happen again? What can be done to forestall future occurrence?

12 years after, 12 July, 2012 remains in unforgettable date in the annals of the history of Buanchor community of Boki Local Government of Cross River State, Nigeria!

Peter Nandi Bette, a Senior Citizen is an Author and Educationist.