Residents turn Abaji roundabout into refuse dump site

The popular roundabout in Abaji town, on the Abuja-Lokoja expressway, has been turned into a refuse dump site by residents, Abuja Metro reports. Our reporter, who visited the scene on Saturday, observed that a large pile of garbage, which has become an eyesore, littered the centre of the roundabout. This, some environmentalists have said, poses […]

The popular roundabout in Abaji town, on the Abuja-Lokoja expressway, has been turned into a refuse dump site by residents, Abuja Metro reports.

Our reporter, who visited the scene on Saturday, observed that a large pile of garbage, which has become an eyesore, littered the centre of the roundabout.

This, some environmentalists have said, poses a health hazard to people who frequent the area.

It was also observed that despite the mounting refuse, some residents—especially hawkers of electronic gadgets, POS operators, food vendors and Okada riders—still stay around the roundabout daily to patronize food vendors and other hawkers.

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Some residents who spoke with our reporter blamed traders who sell provisions, sugarcane, and pure water for dumping refuse at the roundabout.

They said the environmental department of the council had designated the roundabout as one of the places where refuse is dumped and later evacuated.

Muazu Ibrahim, who has a shop close to the roundabout, said he normally dumps refuse there but wondered why it has continued to pile up without being evacuated for over two months.

“Actually, before now, I used to gather my refuse in one place, after which I would give money to a truck pusher who would go and dump it far away in the bush. This year, however, the environmental department asked traders within the area to dump their refuse in the centre so they could come and evacuate it. But I’m surprised that for two months now, the refuse has not been evacuated,” he said.

Another resident, who also spoke with our reporter, expressed concern over the heap of refuse that has continued to pile up in the middle of the roundabout, which he said could pose a serious health hazard to residents, especially those who relax and trade wares in the area.

He said despite the stench that oozes from the heap of refuse, some people still hang around there to buy and eat food, which he said poses health risks.

“In fact, whenever it rains, you have to use a handkerchief to cover your nose while passing through the roundabout because of the bad odor coming from the refuse dump. Yet, some women still hawk food items while other people go there, sit down, and buy food to eat,” he said.

He said it was unfortunate that officials of the environmental department of the council had failed in their responsibility to evacuate the refuse, which has become embarrassing to both residents and travelers along the expressway.

“Abaji town is the gateway to the city of Abuja, so it is embarrassing that the first thing a visitor coming from the East will come across on getting to Abaji is a heap of refuse piled up at the roundabout on the Abuja-Lokoja expressway,” he said.

Another resident, Donald Ezekiel Chukwu, blamed the council authorities for not prioritizing refuse evacuation across the council, saying it was unfortunate that several locations had been turned into refuse dump sites by the residents.

He called on the environmental department to live up to expectations in discharging their responsibilities.

“For example, last week I was sitting in front of my place when some prominent politicians who were returning from Kogi State stopped over to observe Juma’at prayers in Abaji, and the former APC national chairman Abdullahi Ganduje was among them. Now tell me, if he comes across such a heap of refuse at the roundabout, how will he describe the people of Abaji?” he asked.

When Abuja Metro visited the environmental department of the council on Friday, none of the top officials was ready to speak on the issue.

One of them, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the non-evacuation of refuse was due to the non-payment of contractors handling refuse evacuation by the FCT Administration.

“Actually, there’s a company that handles the evacuation of refuse across the council, and the FCT Administration has stopped their payment for nine months, which is why they no longer evacuate them,” he claimed.

The source said he would liaise with the head of the environmental department to see how they would reach out to the council chairman, Abubakar Umar Abdullahi, to release some funds for labourers to evacuate the refuse.

“You see, the truth is that the chairman doesn’t stay here in Abaji. He only comes around once in a while, and you hardly have access to him, except through his chief of staff. But I will talk to the HOD of Environmental and see how he will discuss the issue with the chief of staff,” he added.

It would be recalled that some local contractors handling such emergency services had protested over non-payment of the debts owed them by the FCT Administration amounting to over N5 billion, forcing them to stop such services.

The situation worsened when the Minister, Nyesom Wike, said he was not aware of such services claimed to have been rendered by the contractors.