By Musa Tanimu
Residents of Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, and its environs are groaning over the acute shortage of drinking water that has hit the capital city for several months.
The Acute water scarcity which persisted led to the Residents of Lokoja, the Kogi state capital,to call upon Governor Yahaya Bello to with immediate effect sack the state Commissioner for Water Resources, Abdulmumin Danga over alleged incompetence and insensibility of the plights of Lokoja residents .
The called was made in Lokoja during a protest led by Malam Tijjani Adamu Usman over the lingering water scarcity in the metropolis and environs.
According to the spokesperson of the protesters, the call became necessary after several months of suffering by residents , especially women and children and the exorbitant amount of money charge by water vendors.
Tijjani explained that buying of water for both domestic and other uses from water vendors was becoming expensive as people now resort to scouting for water wherever they were available very early in the morning or late at night.
He noted that residents were promised several weeks ago that regular water supply would resume as soon as the flood was over but that months after, the hardship persisted .
The spokesman who was visibly angry explained that the Ministry of Water Resources had reportedly failed in expanding or reticulating the popular Ibro Waterworks to more areas neither did it sustain normal supply as it was before.
According to the him, some Lokoja elders and stakeholders had appealed to them last month to be patient but nothing had changed.
One of the protesters and a trader, Karima Ahamed said that women and girls bear the brunt more as they had to source for water at odd periods despite the cold weather.
They appealed to the Kogi state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello to order immediate repair of the plant so as not to dent the good achievements already recorded by his administration which had made a mark in legacy projects.
