Communities in Gwer-West Local Government Area of Benue State are facing a pressing concern; the severe lack of access to clean water in the area.
Residents lament that the primary source of water, which is the Naka Earth Dam, is drying up, leaving the people in dire need of water.
The Naka Earth Dam was constructed in 1986, but collapsed in 2013, due to a lack of maintenance.
“People dig holes at the dam in order to access water,” Emmanuel Abunku, a concerned native of the area, told THE WHISTLER in an interview.
Abunku who started a campaign on Facebook to speak about the suffering of his people in accessing water lamented that they are dying in hunger and starvation and now could not even get “ordinary” water to quench their thirst.
“The water in the dam is not even safe for drinking. But even that ‘bad’ water is not available any more because the dam is drying,” he said.
The Software engineer lamented that the mairuwa sell 20 liter jerry cans for N300 for those who can’t trek to the river to look for water.
The dam’s deteriorating condition, he said, was likely caused by excessive use and the effects of climate change.
“The target of the dam was to supply water to at least 10,000 people. When the issue of the Herder/Farmer crisis broke out, all the villagers ran to the local government headquarters. Now, I can tell you that over 500,000 people are relying on this water now.
“The construction company, Gilmor, that was constructing one of the Federal Roads in the area, was also taking water from the dam. There is pressure on this dam. We have not had a case where the dam will dry up but maybe because of climate change and the over dependence of the dam as the only source of water, it began to dry up,” he said.
Abunku raised the alarm of children and the elderly especially in the two Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) Camps in the area, dying due the consumption of the contaminated water.
“Everyday, the people, especially the IDPs, bury their loved ones; children and elderly due to sickness from the dirty water as their immune system is down. They don’t have money from drugs. They don’t have food,” he claimed.
He revealed alarming findings from a research project he conducted in 2018, in collaboration with a health company.
The study focused on analyzing the content of the water, and the results were disturbing. “We found schistosoma, a type of worm, present in the water,” he disclosed.
Specifically, the research identified two predominant species of the parasite: Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium, he added.
“What that means is that any time you drink the water or swim in the water, they will enter your private area. They will stick there and suck your blood, thereby making you sick. The water causes typhoid too. The people are forced to drink mud water now. Not even the water I tested in 2018,” he lamented.
Abunku is also worried about the outbreak of water epidemics like cholera.
According to the World Health Organisation, contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio. Inadequate or poorly managed water and sanitation services expose individuals to preventable health risks, resulting in over 1 million deaths globally.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that more than 100,000 children under five years old die annually in Nigeria due to waterborne diseases like cholera.
Abunku stated that his Facebook campaign, which was in its Day 39, was to escalate the matter and ensure that leaders from the area; from the governor down to the chairman of the council work towards rescuing the people from the water challenge.
He noted that the temporary solution to the challenge was the dredging of the dam, revealing that he had written a letter to the senator representing Benue North-West Senatorial District, Senator Titus Zam, House of Rep member representing Gwer/Gwer-West, Arc. Achado Asema, and the chairman of Gwer-West Local Government area, Hon Victor Ormin via their Facebook page and has not gotten a response from any of them.
“The current house of rep members for (Gwer west and Gwer) is from my place. We have a state assembly member too. I wrote to all of them and none of them responded,” he said.
While Abunku agrees that the project might be capital intensive, he has thought of how this project could be achieved in no time.
“The senators are usually given money for constituency projects. I will advise that if we all come together and write to the World Bank to come to our aid. We can contribute 10 percent for the project,” he said.
Abunku and his team have continued to share images and videos highlighting the challenges of accessing water from the dam, pledging to sustain their advocacy efforts until a solution is found.
Several calls and text messages to the senator representing the senatorial district, Senator Zam and the House of Rep member, Hon Asema went unanswered but the WHISTLER was able to reach the Chairman of the Gwer-West Local Government Council, Hon. Ormin who assured that he was working tirelessly to ensure that there was water in the area.
“When I came into office, I was involved in the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL). It is a state government owned organisation that is in partnership with the world bank. I took them round to look at the Naka Earth Dam because it has been over stretched.
“They sent a team of professional water engineers who took about two weeks doing plenary works on the dam. They have gotten the report back to them. And as we speak, we are getting to the stage of commencement of work on the dam which include desilting, working on the reticulation plants, as well water circulation within the area.
The chairman stated that for the meantime, he was looking for alternative sources of water for the people.
“I am working for a private company to see if we can get a bore hole in the area. This week, they should be in Naka to commence work. I have mobilised them. They have given me assurances that they are going to hit water through a borehole.
“ I have not rested since I was sworn in on 7th October, 2024, pertaining to the issue of water and security in this area. The governor is fully aware of this. I want to believe that surely we will get relieved. I have taken a UN team to that water too. They gave us assurance they will work with us,” he said.
