SOS Message: Ravine 'Swallows' Up School of Nursing, Anua-Uyo

Students of the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Uyo have sent a Save Our Souls (SOS) message to the Akwa Ibom State government to come to their aids as the ravine bordering the school has now encroached the school building and threatened to swallow up the school and its occupants.

Speaking to newsmen on Thursday morning, the students who abandoned their classes, feared that the classroom block might cave in at any moment without warning; appealed to the state government under the the leadership of Mr. Udom Emmanuel to, as a matter of utmost urgency, come to their rescue.

They lamented that the perennial rainfall which started last week had really worsened their predicament as the entire hostel was not only leaking but engulfed in flood that could cause severe casualties.

One of the students who gave her name as Mrs Grace Udoh said the students have persistently complained about the threat posed by the ravine which is now eating up the road to the school, but their cries had continuously fallen on deaf ears. She decried past government insensitivity to their plight and cried aloud to the present administration of Mr. Udom to declare the precarious situation of the school a state of emergency.

"We have in the past continuously called on the government to come and rescue us from this unfortunate situation, but it's as if we're not part of the geographical entity called Akwa Ibom State. What if one day we were all in the the hostel or classroom and it finally falls into the ravine with all the students inside? Is that the time the government would come for action?" , the visibly angry student cried out.

About three electricity polls supporting power lines to the school were seen inside the ravine cliffs which unfortunately runs through the school hostel's verandah. Lines of crevices and tremor in the hostels added panic to the bewildered students whose belongings were already drenched with water.

Efforts to speak to the school principal, Mrs. Ekaete Akan before going to the press was not fruitful. A school lecturer who wore a forlorn and frustrating look and preferred anonymity, bemoaned the outright neglect of the school and appealed for quick action from government and corporate bodies for assistance.