By NATHAN NWAKAMMA

Oba Oluwambe Ojagbohunmi, the Traditional Ruler, Ayetoro Community in Ondo State, has urged coastal communities in the Niger Delta to unite in the campaign against ocean encroachments.

Ojagbohunmi, the Ogeloyinbo of Ayetoro, made the call at a coastal communities interface organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Yenagoa on Saturday.

He stated that coastline settlements across Niger Delta should rise up in defense of their environment by seeking measures to tackle ocean encroachments.

The traditional ruler said that rising sea levels and associated coastal erosion had become existential threat to the culture and identity of Ayetoro people.

“In the past, the tidal currents used to add sand to our land, but in the past 25 years, the ocean has alarmingly encroached into our land.

“The loss of land to ocean encroachment is a huge threat, we do not want to lose our identity and culture,” he said.

Speaking on the theme: “Sea Encroachment, Coastal Erosion and Livelihood Losses: Building Community Resilience against Climate Change”, he said that unity among coastline communities was required.

Ojagbohunmi said that Ayetoro’s historical template of communal practices had promoted solidarity in the face of ocean incursions.

He expressed worry that the community had yet to get support after no fever than 25 years of complaints about the threats to their existence from the Atlantic Ocean.

Earlier, Mr Stanley Egholo, the Lead, Fossil Politics, at HOMEF, said that the organisation was committed to supporting communities threatened by climate change.

Also Mr Umo Isua-Ikoh, the Coordinator, Peace Point Development Foundation, urged coastal community dwellers to leverage the support platforms of credible civil society organisations to amplify their voices.

On her part, Obonganwan Elizabeth Eyo, the Village Head, Esierebom Community, Calabar South Local Government, Cross River, identified indiscriminate felling of trees as a threat to her community.

She said that the community was taking steps to orientate the residents on the need to turn a new leaf, and support tree planting

“This effort has rejuvenated the Nsidung Beach, and made it a model for other communities now emulate,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that HOMEF is an ecological think-tank, and environmental rights advocacy group.

The event brought coastal communities residents across the Niger Delta region from Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo states. (NAN)