PROTECT NTAWOGBA CREEK, PROTECT PORT HARCOURT
The Ntawogba Creek is one of the most important natural drainage channels in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Stretching approximately 7.6 kilometres across the city, it traverses major areas, including New GRA, D/Line, and the northeastern parts of Diobu, collecting and conveying stormwater away from these communities.
Geographically, the creek serves as the city’s principal floodwater channel. It originates within the urban centre, flows through several densely populated neighbourhoods, and eventually empties into the Amadi Creek, which connects directly to the Bonny River Estuary. This natural drainage system plays a critical role in protecting lives, property, and public infrastructure from flooding.
However, decades of rapid urbanisation, poor land-use planning, and environmental mismanagement have placed enormous pressure on this vital waterway. Today, the Ntawogba Creek flows through heavily built-up areas, making it one of the most important subjects of urban flood management in Port Harcourt.
Unfortunately, illegal sandfilling, land reclamation, and the encroachment of the Ntawogba Creek for private developments have become one of the greatest environmental threats facing Port Harcourt. By narrowing this essential natural drainage channel, individuals are systematically destroying the city’s natural flood defence system and increasing the risk of catastrophic flooding in New GRA, D/Line, Diobu, and the entire city centre. This is not merely an environmental issue—it is a direct threat to every resident of Port Harcourt.
The Ntawogba Creek was naturally designed to receive and transport excess stormwater safely into the Amadi Creek and ultimately into the Bonny River Estuary. Every illegal structure erected on its banks, every truckload of sand dumped into the creek, and every wetland reclaimed for private development reduces its capacity to perform this essential function.
The continuous encroachment on this vital lifeline is both selfish and dangerous. Individuals continue to sandfill the creek’s banks, reclaim wetlands, and narrow its natural course in order to build private homes, commercial structures, and shanties. By destroying these natural floodplains, we are eliminating the creek’s ability to retain and channel floodwater. Consequently, during heavy rainfall, the water has nowhere to go except into our homes, roads, schools, hospitals, businesses, and other public infrastructure.
This destruction must stop. Narrowing a major flood channel guarantees unprecedented flooding that could affect hundreds of thousands of residents. It may result in the displacement of families, the destruction of homes and businesses, the loss of livelihoods, increased public health risks, and enormous economic losses. It also represents a deliberate violation of urban planning laws, environmental regulations, and public safety standards.
We therefore call on the Rivers State Ministry of Environment, the Rivers State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, relevant environmental agencies, and local government authorities to take immediate and decisive action. All illegal encroachments on the Ntawogba Creek should be identified and removed where necessary. Environmental laws must be strictly enforced, while those responsible for illegal land reclamation should be held accountable. Government should also prioritise the restoration, preservation, and continuous monitoring of the creek to ensure its long-term sustainability.
Protecting the Ntawogba Creek is not simply about conserving the environment—it is about safeguarding human lives, protecting public and private investments, preserving critical infrastructure, and securing the future of Port Harcourt for generations to come.
Our collective safety is far more important than a few illegally constructed buildings on natural waterways.
Protect the Ntawogba Creek. Protect Port Harcourt. Save Lives.
