Residents of Wuse District in the Federal Capital Territory have called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to urgently restore public water supply after nearly three weeks of dry taps across parts of the district, warning that the prolonged outage is fueling hardship and raising fears of a public health crisis.
The affected areas include Wuse Zones 1, 2 and 3, as well as Wuse II, where residents say they have been forced to rely on commercial water vendors, paying increasingly high prices for a commodity they describe as essential to daily living.
Many residents said the disruption has placed an unbearable financial burden on households and businesses, with some families spending a substantial portion of their income just to secure water for cooking, bathing and other domestic needs.
A resident of Wuse Zone 2, Mrs. Ngozi Okafor, described the situation as unsustainable.
“For almost three weeks now, there has been no water from our taps. Every day we buy water from vendors, and the cost keeps increasing. Water is a basic necessity, and we are appealing to the authorities to restore the supply because we need water urgently,” she said.
Residents also warned that the prolonged shortage could trigger sanitation problems and outbreaks of water-borne diseases if urgent action is not taken.
Mr. John Bamgbose, a resident of Wuse Zone 6, said families were already rationing water meant for cooking, bathing and sanitation.
“The situation is becoming a serious health concern. Families are rationing water meant for cooking, bathing and sanitation. We are worried that if nothing is done, people may begin to fall sick. The government should act before diseases break out,” he said.
Echoing the appeal, Mrs. Esther Bassey of Wuse II called on the FCT Minister, the Federal Capital Territory Administration and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to intervene without delay.
“We are appealing to the FCT Minister, the FCTA and the FCDA to come to our rescue. Wuse is one of the major districts in Abuja, and residents should not have to suffer this way. We hope the authorities will listen to our cry and restore water supply without further delay,” she said.
The residents urged the authorities to treat the water shortage as an emergency, stressing that access to safe and clean water is critical to public health, sanitation and the overall wellbeing of residents.
They expressed hope that normal water supply would be restored immediately to ease the hardship facing thousands of residents and avert a possible public health emergency.