Health
Inside Cross River community’s devastating landslide
By Emem Julius
In July, residents of Obutong Community in the Calabar Municipality Local Government Area of Cross River State said they heard it — a low, mournful groan beneath their feet, as though something ancient was shifting in pain.
Then the rain came, heavy and relentless. The following day, the earth opened.
A massive landslide tore through the heart of Obutong and swallowed sections of the federal road known locally as Anansa Road, damaging businesses, uprooting livelihoods and leaving behind a jagged wound that grows wider with every rainfall.
Today, the chasm is more than 30 metres across in some places. Shipping containers lie abandoned like toys, heavy-duty trucks are stranded, and motorists are forced to take dangerous detours through narrow community paths.
For the people of Obutong, however, the conversation is not only about heavy rainfall, blocked drainage channels or failing infrastructure. It is also about Anansa, the goddess of the sea.
To outsiders, Anansa may be just a name on a map. To the people of Obutong, she is a living presence — locally regarded as a traditional sea goddess who has watched over the Calabar waterways for generations.
She is revered, feared and appeased. And right now, many residents believe she is angry.
Speaking on behalf of the community, the Youth Leader of Obutong, Emmanuel Okon, linked the massive landslide to what he described as the anger of Anansa, insisting that spiritual intervention must accompany any government effort to halt the disaster.
According to him, while engineers may be required to repair the damaged area, the community also believes that traditional cleansing rites and prayers are necessary to restore peace and prevent further destruction.
He said: “Truth be told, so many things have to be done, and there are so many things that should be considered apart from the construction work. There is so much spirituality around it, and as a community, I think they should say prayers and do something for cleansing.”
“If you check very well, from what I know, this is the face of Anansa, the goddess of the sea. And those who know the community very well know that there has to be cleansing. So many things have to be done,” he added.
Okon noted that the landslide, which followed days of heavy rainfall, had destroyed businesses, damaged properties, disrupted livelihoods and left residents living in fear as the affected area continues to cave in.
He maintained that many residents believe the incident goes beyond natural causes.
The youth leader said the scale of the destruction was a sign of intense anger from the goddess over something, adding that custodians of tradition in the community needed to respond to what he described as an ancestral call.
He urged the state government to pay serious attention to the community’s concerns and support efforts to appease the goddess.
“For the goddess to destroy this much, that means she is angry about something. It is time we wake up. It is time everybody wakes up and looks inward.
“For a community to be at this level, with this massive destruction, there are so many things they need to do. The people who are in charge of the cleansing, the Obutong community, need to wake up and do the needful. This is more than a landslide, if you ask me,” he explained.
For centuries, people living around the Cross River estuary have held beliefs about water deities governing fortune, fertility and disaster. Anansa is one of the most prominent.
She is often depicted as a beautiful, mermaid-like figure who protects fishermen, traders and travellers. But, like other powerful spiritual forces in local belief, she is also believed to demand respect.
Oral historians said the last major landslide near Anansa Road occurred in the late 1980s, following a disputed chieftaincy matter. Elders reportedly performed traditional rites, after which the land stabilised.
Whether coincidence or not, the story remains alive in Obutong today.
One of the residents, Samuel Amanam, a father of five who says he has lived in the community for more than 40 years, attributed the current situation to what he described as neglect of Anansa, the goddess of the sea.
“I have lived in this Obutong Community for more than 40 years. This kind of thing is nothing we should keep quiet about. The last time this kind of major landslide occurred near Anansa Road was in the late 1980s. The elders didn’t sleep. Everyone joined hands to do the needful, and the community was stabilised,” Amanam stated.
He called on Governor Bassey Otu and other leaders in the state to support the community in appeasing the goddess to restore normalcy, stressing that ignoring the signs could bring further destruction and damage to the community and its people.
“Our son, the Executive Governor of this state, Prince Bassey Otu, should wake up and support our community to appease Anansa. This is not the time to ignore the signs we have seen. We have to do it in a hurry to avert further destruction and damage. Of course, it is often said, delay is dangerous. The cleansing should be done to save our land and our people,” he appealed.
Dr. Nkoyo Esu, a lecturer in African Traditional Religion at the University of Calabar, explained that, in this part of the world, the environment cannot be completely separated from spirituality, warning that dismissing the community’s beliefs could be counterproductive.
“People don’t separate the environment from spirituality in this part of the world. When disaster happens, the first question is not just, ‘What caused it?’ but, ‘Why did it happen to us now?’”
She added that, in religious history, the concept of a goddess provides a framework for explaining events and demanding accountability from both spiritual and political leaders. According to her, every community has ancestral forces believed to protect and shield its people.
“Every community has these ancestral forces. Some are like guardian angels, while some are for war defence. If government ignores the cultural dimension, residents will not fully cooperate with technical solutions. The smartest approach is both,” she advised.
Mama Ekpenyong, 62, a roadside foodstuff seller, said she now sleeps in a neighbour’s house because she is afraid that the remaining portion of the land could collapse during the night.
