Abuja: Life Camp’s deluge of water

Of recent, poor drainage system has taken over the road at Life Camp in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which would have been difficult to control if it were mid-rainy season. Sources said the major road was flooded as a result of a pipe that burst somewhere in the environment, but water in residential areas […]

Of recent, poor drainage system has taken over the road at Life Camp in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which would have been difficult to control if it were mid-rainy season. Sources said the major road was flooded as a result of a pipe that burst somewhere in the environment, but water in residential areas in the neighbourhood still continue to run in taps.

Students that are resident in Life Camp and Kado in the FCT who were returning home from their schools last Thursday said the road got flooded the previous week but that tap water was available in their schools. “We have difficulties passing through the vehicles that have to move slowly through the narrow path left by the flood. We want the government to do something fast,” they said.

In a further interview with drivers, one Mr Tajudeen Ajisafe talked about the terrible situation faced by drivers as a result of the flood. He added that the Airport Junction-Deidei road used to be full of commercial activities as the area was densely-populated before the Obasanjo administration commenced serial demolition exercises in the FCT. “The only problem we had in the area was the bad road. Therefore, commercial drivers plied the road at their own risk.  How can a major road be flooded for a week without the government tracing the source and taking immediate and effective action,” he asked.

Ajisafe added that if the government continues to give a deaf ear to the clamour of the public over the poor condition of Airport Junction-Deidei road, transport fare will soon increase along that road.

In the same way, Mrs Joy Tani Ibrahim, a trader resident in the neighbourhood of the flooded area, said she was away from home for a fortnight, but on her arrival to the FCT, she could not get home easily because of the flooded road. “It took me eight hours from Lagos to Abuja. But I spent two hours sitting in the intra-city taxi that took me from Airport Road to Life Camp.  As the vehicle drew near home, I discovered that only a footpath was left for the heavy traffic plying the road.”

Mrs Ibrahim added that her initial fear was scarcity of water at home, but contrary to her expectation, water was in abundance in the compound and other residential areas and no one could therefore tell the source of the problem.

Hawkers who are ubiquitous in the FCT equally disclosed that in their daily roaming of the city, they could not identify any place where a pipeline burst. But one Lawrence hawking packaged water disclosed that there was an accumulation of water at Gwarinpa District which had overflowed and could be responsible for the flood along Deidei road.

In a further interview with operators of a garden along Dantata & Sawoe at Life Camp, one Chinedu who responded in the absence of the proprietor disclosed that the area is poorly drained, and flood seasonally hampers business activities. According to him, rainy seasons are dreaded like fire because sand covers the waterways and the entire garden gets heavily flooded. “Rain means end of business in our garden,” he lamented.

At the Fish Market in Kado, mongers disclosed that the water wasting away on the road does not affect the flow of water in the market. “We get water here every day and cannot give adequate information about the source of the problem,” he said.   

As the road remains flooded and commercial drivers remain stranded in their vehicles, Muslims living in the area go in and out of the mosque to perform ablution five times daily without experiencing the slightest shortage of water at Kado Market Central Mosque. The chairman of the mosque, one Mr Abdul-Malik, disclosed that the entire market never lacks water. “I remember a certain year when we were short of water, but it lasted for only two days because the relevant authority immediately remedied the situation. Since then, water has been flowing freely here till today,” he said.

At Julius Berger Nigeria Limited in Life camp, the workers said the company uses little quantity of water and cannot be responsible for the heavily-flooded road.

In a further investigation with the authority of Dantata & Sawoe, another construction company in the area, the Head Foreman, Mr Dan Asabe Salisu, said the quantity of water used by the company daily is minimal and mostly for the survival of their flowers; therefore, the flooded road is not as a result of their activities.

Close observation with residents in the area disclosed that the flood adds to the accumulation of water used by the construction companies operating in the area.  Beside the industrial waste, there is a swamp in the area where banana and plantains thrive abundantly and along the canal are crevices left behind as a result of poor engineering work.  All these empty their contents into the major waterway. Therefore, years of constant denudation without adequate clearing of contents of the canals during dry season are responsible for the heap of sand and diversion of water onto the road.

When this reporter spoke with some workers in the area that did not want to disclose their names, they said they had been directed by the Federal Emergency Road Management Agency (FERMA) to pack sand from the canal and that the road will soon return to its former condition. Following that decision by FERMA, drivers and residents plying the road have renewed hope that the canals and the road will soon be cleared.

Mr Segun, a driver, said it is a temporary solution that FERMA has applied to the problem because sand will keep gathering along the canal every rainy season. He said at the roadside, there is constant throwing of waste along the waterway and sand gets blown into the gutter during dry seasons, adding that in his fourteen years experience as a commercial driver in the FCT, the canal needs expansion because its contents pass through the bridge along Airport Road and proceeds to King’s Quarters and passes through Lugbe, Gwagwalada and Abaji and finally to Lokoja bridge while settlers engage in commercial fishing activities along the river on its way to Murtala Bridge in Lokoja.

He advised the government to clear the bush along the canal for security purposes and admonished car wash operators to move elsewhere, because the bush along the canal could serve as hideout for criminals after they snatch people handbags along the street.