The Eziukwu Market (Cemetery Market) is the second-largest market in Aba and also the major market where beverages, provisions, foodstuff and other edible materials are sold.
The current condition of the roads leading to the market is nothing to write home about. However, the worst condition in the market currently is the unhygienic environment capable of causing a serious outbreak of epidemic.
Aba as a city is well known for poor sanitation conditions, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and open urination opens defecation and other unhygienic behavioural patterns.
However, one expects that a market designated as a centre for buying and selling edible goods should at least embrace some culture of cleanliness for health sake.
A health expert, Dr Ken Mbadiugha said that the situation of the major entrance into the Eziukwu Market is worrisome stressing that for an overcrowded market to lack all manner of sanitation facilities is extremely dangerous.
He stressed that the manner of air pollution at the market has made all buyers and sellers vulnerable to consequences of pollution, with diseases like diarrhea finding a breathing space to wreak havoc.
Mbadiugha said that if proper medical investigations are carried out in Aba today, it will not be shocking to discover that over 75% of the current disease burden in the city is attributable to poor sanitation.
He said that since a majority of Aba residents are traders, they are constantly exposed to the hazardous environment which they created by themselves in conjunction with the lackadaisical approach of the Abia State Government to sanitation.
News Echo reports that from the Rail Way axis of the Eziukwu Market which cuts across St Philip’s Road, Cemetery Road and Ogbonnaya Road, there is no more motorable entrance, as garbage heap has taken over the road.
Speaking more on the consequences, another health expert, Dr Chinedu Okoroafor explaining that it will only take a miracle for Aba to avoid the outbreak of epidemic should the rain persist.
Okoroafor said that most human infections spread through contact with human excreta, waste and other unhygienic solid and liquid materials.
He stressed those viruses, bacteria, protozoa and parasitic worms’ cause many diseases that are spread by direct contact with faeces or indirectly via contaminated food and soil.
Okoroafor called on the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu to act fast by quickly ordering the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) to evacuate the hazardous refuse at Cemetery Road by Railway which is a major entrance into the Eziukwu Market.
He questioned why people selling meats, tomatoes, pepper and all manner of foodstuffs will be doing so in such a dangerous environment, stressing that diseases can be transmitted through a carrier organism or vector that touches such foodstuffs after perching on the garbage.
Okoroafor notes that most infections occur through the faecal-oral channel where pathogens enter a person’s mouth through ingesting (eating or drinking) contaminated food or water, or when contaminated fingers are placed in the mouth.
He described the situation at Eziukwu Market as environmental terrorism and called on the state government to act fast before the situation will get out of hand.
A trader at the market, Mr Jonathan Osuagwu said that the unhygienic condition of Eziukwu Market especially the major entrance through Ogbonna Road is the fault of the Abia State Government.
“You’re a journalist and you’re in the market now, can you possibly show me a single refuse bucket that we can dispose of waste on? This is the problem.
“The government collect sanitation fee from over 20 thousand shops within the market, but what are they doing with it? Even if they bring a bucket by mistake, which road are they going to evacuate it from?
“We have over six major roads into this market and none is motorable. For example, Port Harcourt Road which is the major entrance is turning into a big river, Eziukwu Road has been abandoned, Cemetery Road has been abandoned, Omuma Road has been abandoned, Ogbonna Road is no longer a normal Road.
“What about the School Road that most customers are managing, it has suddenly turned impassable as The Traffic and Indiscipline Management Agency of Abia (TIMAAS) has collected brine from roadside mechanics and allowed them to be operating on that road as their mechanic workshops.
“For you to come to Eziukwu Market through School Road in the afternoon is like travelling from Aba to Port Harcourt. This place is messed up. I don’t understand why the state government cannot handle over sanitation to Local Government because it is obvious the state has failed.”
When contacted, Deputy General Manager, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), Aba branch, Chief Rowland Nwakamma said that the agency has the capacity to keep Aba and entire streets clean, but is seriously being affected by the constant weekly sit at home
Nwakamma said that with Aba being a commercial city, any day his staffs fail to do their duty, the signs will be all over the streets that they did not function effectively.
He explained that last week when the sit at home occurred both on Monday and Tuesday, it did not stop residents from throwing away their waste, but it stopped ASEPA workers from working, stressing that the agency is doing its best to meet up with those two days lost.
Nwakamma said that with every Monday now a sit at home day and considering the amount of waste generated in Aba every weekend, it will be unfair for anybody to assess his agency’s performance at this point.
He however said that the situation at Cemetery Road will be given adequate attention as it was just brought to his notice by our correspondent.
“A trader at the market, Mr Jonathan Osuagwu said that the unhygienic condition of Eziukwu Market especially the major entrance through Ogbonna Road is the fault of the Abia State Government. You’re a journalist and you’re in the market now, can you possibly show me a single refuse bucket that we can dispose of waste on? This is the problem.
The government collect sanitation fee from over 20 thousand shops within the market, but what are they doing with it? Even if they bring a bucket by mistake, which road are they going to evacuate it from? We have over six major roads into this market and none is motorable. For example, Port Harcourt Road which is the major entrance is turning into a big river, Eziukwu Road has been abandoned, Cemetery Road has been abandoned, Omuma Road has been abandoned, Ogbonna Road is no longer a normal Road.’’
“A health expert, Dr Ken Mbadiugha said that the situation of the major entrance into the Eziukwu Market is worrisome stressing that for an overcrowded market to lack all manner of sanitation facilities is extremely dangerous. He stressed that the manner of air pollution at the market has made all buyers and sellers vulnerable to consequences of pollution, with diseases like diarrhea finding a breathing space to wreak havoc. Mbadiugha said that if proper medical investigations are carried out in Aba today, it will not be shocking to discover that over 75% of the current disease burden in the city is attributable to poor sanitation. He said that since a majority of Aba residents are traders, they are constantly exposed to the hazardous environment which they created by themselves in conjunction with the lackadaisical approach of the Abia State Government to sanitation.”
