Residents of Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State have appealed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to provide them with alternative sources of water.
The residents, who are in Tudun Wada Malam Jamo, Konkeje and Jauro Baba communities, made the appeal in an interview with reporters on Sunday in Gombe.
An NNPC oil pipeline in Tudun Wada Malam Jamo burst on Friday evening resulting in oil spill which led to the adulteration of the river and only water source in the area.
Spokespersons of the communities, Alhaji Yayari Jungudo and Umar Ajiya, said that following the spillage, the three communities had been without portable water as the only water available was contaminated.
“We woke up around 4.30 a.m. on Saturday only to discover that the stream had been contaminated with petroleum due to the pipeline burst.
“Today, all the residents of these three villages went as far as Gamadaji village, about four kilometres away, to fetch water.
“We do not have wells or boreholes or any other source of water but the river and it has now been contaminated by petroleum.
“We appeal to the NNPC or the authorities concerned to provide us with alternative sources of water supply,’’ Jungudo said.
Also speaking, Ajiya, who is the Youth Leader in the area, said the people in the area were facing difficulty following the development.
He said that a similar incident occurred at the beginning of the raining season this year, when the pipeline burst.
Ajiya appealed to NNPC to address the problem to ease the difficulty being faced by people in the area.
All attempts by NAN to get comments from officials of the NNPC failed.
A staff of the NNPC, who pleaded anonymity told NAN that “nobody will talk to you; even the Branch Manager will not talk to you.’’
NAN also reports that by Sunday morning, the NNPC engineers had completed repairs of the burst pipeline. (NAN)
