FCT water crisis bites harder

The perennial water crisis across communities at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is forcing many residents to seek alternative sources. An investigation by our reporter has revealed that the worst-affected areas include parts of Maitama, Asokoro and Wuse 2 in the city centre as well as Apo. Communities along the Abuja Airport Road, including Gwagwalada, […]

The perennial water crisis across communities at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is forcing many residents to seek alternative sources.

An investigation by our reporter has revealed that the worst-affected areas include parts of Maitama, Asokoro and Wuse 2 in the city centre as well as Apo.

Communities along the Abuja Airport Road, including Gwagwalada, Jiwa and Gwagwa, have also been severely hit.

Also affected are the Durumi, Karmo and Wumba districts in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) where the crisis has lingered for about a month.

The crisis has been attributed the shrinking of water levels at the Usuma Dam in Bwari Area Council where the FCT Water Board treats and distributes water.

A resident of Karmo, Abdullahi Muhammad, said his children must leave home early every morning in search of water, often remaining away for long periods.

According to him, this is negatively affecting their education, as they consistently arrive at school late due to the time spent trekking to and from water points.

Lamenting the situation, a resident of Durumi, Nuel John, said the shortage has forced many to rely on commercial water vendors who have significantly increased their charges.

Daily Trust reports that many parts of Gwarinpa are also facing water shortages as well as Lugbe where the entire community has no access to portable water from the FCT water board.

Residents resort to borehole at Life Camp

The deteriorating water supply in the Life Camp district of Abuja has forced many residents to resort to digging private boreholes to meet their daily needs.

Our correspondent reports that parts of the district—which notably hosts the official residence of the FCT Minister—regularly go three to four days without a supply of running water.

Engr. Stephen John, a resident of the area, said he was compelled to drill a borehole within his compound as the water situation has worsened year after year.

“Honestly, I was forced to dig a borehole this year because, in some instances, we go two to three days without tap water from the Water Board. I understand that their network is overstretched, but the city handlers need to pay serious attention to this problem,” he said.

Another resident, Madam Nima’at Ajisafe, shared a similar experience, noting that her family began relying on a borehole last year after facing persistent shortages.

“The same water problem happened last year, and my husband was forced to dig a borehole. That is what we have been relying on ever since,” she said.

Residents are appealing to the FCT authorities and the FCT Water Board to find a lasting solution to the distribution challenges facing the city, emphasizing that a high-profile district like Life Camp should not be struggling with basic utility access.

Water project ongoing in Bwari

In August last year, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike flagged off a major water project in Bwari. According to Wike, the initiative is aimed at providing potable water to Bwari town, Ushafa, and surrounding communities.

The N90 billion project spans 198 km and involves laying an extensive pipe network and upgrading the Usuma Dam booster station.

The primary goal is to end the residents’ long-standing reliance on private boreholes.

Daily Trust reports that the project, part of the Greater Abuja Water Supply scheme, involves installing pipes with diameters ranging from 60mm to 600mm, along with essential infrastructure such as valves and chambers. It is scheduled for completion next year.

Since the project began, residents of Bwari town have expressed hope that the initiative will finally alleviate the chronic water scarcity they face.

Mr. Mathew Aina, a resident of the Old Viva area, commended the federal government for the intervention.

He noted the irony of Bwari residents lacking access to potable water despite the town hosting the Usuma Water Treatment Plant—the very facility that supplies the entire Abuja city center.

While the project has been welcomed, some residents have raised concerns regarding the execution.

Mrs. Hauwa Abdullahi urged the contractors to ensure the use of high-standard materials.

She specifically expressed reservations about the pipe sizes being used in her neighborhood.

“The pipes used in our area seem small compared to those in other places,” she observed. “We hope this will not affect the volume of water supplied to this area once the project is commissioned.”

Water Board’s electricity debts yet to be paid

Sources from both the FCT Water Board and the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) confirmed to our reporter that the FCT Water Board was yet to settle months of accumulated electricity bills, which previously led to a disconnection of power.

The board relied on alternative power sources for months, which forced a shutdown of production before they were reconnected to the national grid on January 17.

At the time, the AEDC had announced that the re-connection would last for only two weeks, warning that another disconnection would occur if the agency failed to clear its debt within that period.

Checks by our reporter indicated that the debts had not be settled even though the AEDC is yet to re-disconnect the power source to the treatment plant.

Repeated efforts to speak to the General Manager of the FCT Water Board, yielded no result as he was said not to be in office when our reporter visited.

He did not also respond to phone calls put across to him on the issue.

However, a senior officer of the board, who craved anonymity, confirmed the water crisis in some areas but said the board was working to fix it.

He said the board was not directly responsible for water shortages in the villages where it had no pipeline network.

‘Why water crisis persists’

Abuja Metro gathered that water levels are shrinking at the Usuma Dam in Bwari Area Council where the FCT Water Board treats and distributes water.

An official of the agency, who spoke to our reporter on the condition of anonymity, said the lack of constant raw water supply from the Gurara Dam in neighboring Kaduna State—designed to complement Usuma Dam—had worsened the situation.

The source revealed that raw water is usually released from the Gurara Dam into the Usuma Dam for three to four weeks whenever levels drop.

“After the dam is filled, the supply is halted until the transferred raw water is processed. However, the problem is that it takes days or even weeks for the process of releasing another round of water to be perfected, and this delay leads to a water crisis in the FCT,” the official explained.

According to him, it takes several days for strategic reservoir tanks across the FCT to be filled with treated water. In the absence of a steady supply, low pressure or a total lack of water across communities becomes inevitable.

An expert suggested dredging the Usuma Dam, noting that it is currently being filled by sand and silt deposits resulting from human activities around the feeder rivers.

Dredging, the expert said, would enable the dam to store a larger volume of water during the rainy season and from Gurara during the dry season.

“I remember the dam used to store raw water from the Gurara Dam for up to seven weeks before reaching capacity; now it takes only three weeks to fill and start spilling because of the sand deposits inside the dam,” the expert noted.

Meanwhile, concerns are growing among FCT residents over the alleged conversion of a substantial portion of the Usuma Dam buffer zone into a private farm. The farm is situated between Usuma Dam and Ushafa Junction along the Dutse-Bwari Expressway.

During a visit to the site, our reporter gathered that the farm, which houses a greenhouse, a hotel and a resort centre, is allegedly connected directly to the pipeline that supplies raw water from the Usuma Dam to its treatment plants.

Experts and observers have described this connection as a gross violation of existing regulations.

Residents described the situation as a high-level administrative breach.

They argued that the buffer zone surrounding the dam should remain a restricted, vegetated area to prevent soil erosion and protect the water body from contamination.

It would be recalled that in 2021, the FCT Administration, then concerned about regulatory violations along both the upper and lower axes of the buffer zone, marked several buildings for demolition. Affected areas at that time included Pmagbe, Shafatu, Unguwar Tiv, and the SCC Layout, all within the Ushafa district.

Villagers struggle with animals for pond water

Many local communities in the territory have been hit with acute water shortages, with many of them have to struggle with animals to access water from hand-dung ponds.

Residents of the Tugbudu community in the Gurdi ward of Abaji Area Council are currently in a state of confusion as the only river they depend on for water has dried up.

Daily Trust reports that locals have been digging into different sections of the riverbed to find spots where they can scoop out water.

Several residents, particularly women, expressed their frustration  to our reporter who visited the community which borders Mayaki-Gulu in Niger State.

They noted that the situation had worsened this year, as the river had completely dried up, inflicting severe hardship on the population.

The situation is the same in some communities in Bwari Area Council where the locals have to dig ponds to scoop water.

John Madaki, a resident of Gaba, one of the communities worst hit by the water problem, said the villagers have to struggle with cows to get water from the dug ponds.

“We don’t have option than to drink water from such ponds. However, some people use to boil the water before they drink while some others just take it after it settled,’’ he said.