A suspected earth tremor in parts of Bayelsa and
Rivers States has caused palpable apprehension
among residents of the affected communities in the
two oil-rich states.
Residents of the areas noted that the tremor caused
serious cracks on the walls of their buildings due to
the incident, though no injury was reported.
It was learnt that in some of the impacted
communities such as Igbogene and Akenfa in
Bayelsa as well as Akinima, Akie-Oniso(Oruama),
One Man Country and Mbiama – neighbouring
communities in Rivers, many people who
experienced it were yet to recover from the trauma.
There were heavy vibrations that lasted for some
minutes during the incident which was said to have
started about 12 midnight.
Nigeria reportedly experienced tremors in 1933,
1939, 1964, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2009
in various parts of the country.
A retired Principal and landlord in Igbogene,
Bayelsa state, Chief Etekpe Friday, described the
experience as “frightening”.
“We were about to go to bed when I heard a heavy
vibration. I thought it was something else so I
quickly went into prayers,” the 60-year-old man
stated.
Another resident, Victor Idieto, described the earth
tremor as a kind of earthquake.
He said, “in fact, there was a kind of earthquake,
very serious quake that lasted for some minutes.
“At first, I thought it was armed robbers that were
removing my roof, so I started shouting, ‘Armed
robbers, armed robbers’, only to realize that others
had similar experience.”
At Akie-Oniso (Oruama) in Ahoada West Local
Government Area of Rivers State, a resident, Paul
Kio, said the tremor caused a serious crack in his
building.
“This vibration was something unpredictable, look
at the cracks on my wall,” Kio explained.
Also, Paul Harrison, who hails from Delta State, but
resides in the area, said it was the fourth time the
incident had taken place, vowing to take his family
away from the community if another occurs.
The story was the same at Akinima, headquarters
of the LGA. A house wife, Animason Emeka-Mark,
pointed out that she had a traumatic feeling
throughout the fateful night.
“Everywhere was shaking. It was something else. I
thought the world had come to an end,” she said.
