The Nigerian Senate has urged the Federal Government to pursue international climate adaptation funding and urgently strengthen shoreline protection as ocean surges continue to destroy homes and infrastructure in coastal communities.

The lawmakers also directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and relevant state authorities to provide emergency assistance, including safe drinking water, healthcare services and temporary shelter, to residents whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed.

The resolutions were adopted during Thursday’s plenary on October 22, following a motion calling for urgent shoreline protection works to prevent the coastal community of Ayetoro in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State from further destruction.

The motion was sponsored by Francis Faduyile, senator representing Ondo South, who raised concerns over the scale of damage caused by the Atlantic Ocean’s encroachment.

Faduyile told the Senate that about 80 per cent of homes and infrastructure in Ayetoro had been lost to sea incursion, warning that the affected communities required urgent intervention from federal and state governments, development commissions and international partners.

He called on the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to work with the Ondo State Government on a comprehensive and adequately funded shoreline protection programme for the community.

The senator also urged the Senate committees on Environment, NDDC and Special Duties to engage relevant ministries, agencies and stakeholders, monitor the implementation of the proposed interventions and report back to the Senate within four weeks.

Several lawmakers who contributed to the debate supported the proposed measures, highlighting the growing threat of coastal erosion and ocean surges to communities in their constituencies.

Ekong Sampson, senator representing Akwa Ibom South, said communities in his district were also battling sea incursion.

Adeniyi Adegbonmire, representing Ondo Central, argued that the Ondo State Government lacked the financial capacity to tackle the crisis on its own. He called for stronger federal intervention to protect residents and their communities.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio assured lawmakers that the legislature would take the problem seriously, acknowledging that some state governments lacked the resources required to address coastal destruction.

Akpabio pledged to look into the situation in Ayetoro and other communities affected by sea incursion across the country.

Ayetoro, a coastal settlement in Ondo State, has endured recurring ocean surges and coastal erosion for decades, with the advancing Atlantic Ocean swallowing homes, public facilities and portions of the community’s land.

The destruction has displaced residents, disrupted economic activities and damaged essential infrastructure, including schools and electricity facilities.

Fishing, a major source of livelihood for many residents, has also been affected as families lose homes, fishing equipment and access to productive land.

NEMA reported after an assessment of affected riverine communities in Ilaje in August 2024 that ocean surges had submerged 1,820 buildings, displaced 2,470 households and affected 14,820 people.

The agency also reported damage to schools and the community’s independent power system, leaving residents without electricity.

Efforts to protect Ayetoro from the encroaching sea have faced persistent implementation problems.

The NDDC awarded a shoreline protection contract for the community in 2004, but the initial contract was terminated after the contractor reportedly failed to execute the project satisfactorily.

The contract was subsequently re-awarded in 2009, but the protection works remained incomplete, leaving residents exposed to continued coastal erosion and repeated displacement.