Water scarcity hits Maiduguri communities, cause unknown

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BY ABDULKADIR M. LAWAN, APRIL 10, 2022 | 04:42 PM


Residents of some communities in Maiduguri, capital of Borno have decried scarcity of water.

According to them, the scarcity started few days ago after water from the Borno State Water Board stopped supplying to their area.

The areas are Mairi Ward, Hausari Ward, Old Maiduguri Ward and Maimusari Ward, among others.

Some of the residents who spoke to YERWA EXPRESS NEWS said the situation has caused hike in prices of water - making it difficult for them to afford.

They explained that 280 litters (14 pieces of 20-liter gallons) of water is now sold at the cost of either N500 or N600, and in some areas up to between N700 and N800, as against N300 or less.

'We are out of supply for over three days now, and we don't know the reason why.

'As I'm talking to you now, we only get water from private borehole owned by philanthropists in our area who used to supply it time to time but there is a long queue almost all the time,' Ibrahim Musa, a resident of Hausari said, while lamenting how costly it is to buy water from cart-pushers.

'Water vendors are selling the water at cost of N600 per cart if the location of the buyer is within the Hausari ward but if the buyer is in Shehuri or Lawan Bukar area, the price is N800 per cart, depend on the distance,' he added.

Muslim faithfuls across the world have embarked on 30 days fasting from last week Saturday.

The residents said the scarcity in the fasting period is ‘terrible’ for them because much water is needed for consumption.

'We are in this situation for 3 days now. It is bringing a lot of hardship to us especially during this month of Ramadan when much water is needed for consumption.

'Now we have to buy it from water vendors, whether we like it or not, because we have to use water.

'A cart of water is sold at the rate of N400 to N500 depend on the distance which before it was sold at the cost of N200 to N250 per cart,' Buhari Garba, a resident of Mairi Ward also said.

However, some of the residents have gone to social media to complain about the situation while calling on government to intervene.

The residents complained that the water scarcity in the fasting period have continued to make life very difficult them.

'Residents of Old Maiduguri and some areas in the metropolitan council are facing worst scarcity of water.

'We are still calling on government to come to our rescue. Water vendors selling one (cart) at N800 and above. The well meaning individual have to intervene,' Kaka Alhaji Kyari Saje, a Facebook user wrote.

There is no official statement regarding the cause.


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