Suspected vandals attack Jigawa water plant, steal items worth N20m – Commissioner

Suspected vandals have attacked the Birninkudu Water Treatment Plant in Birninkudu Local Government Area of Jigawa, beat up workers, and stolen items worth over N20 million.

The Commissioner for Water Resources, Alhaji Ibrahim Garba, made this known when he inspected the facility on Friday.

Garba, who expressed worry over the incident, said government will take drastic measures against those sabotaging its efforts to provide potable water to residents of the state.

“This is very sad and unfortunate indeed. Items worth over N20 million were stolen by the vandals.

“This is the first time this has happened since the creation of this water facility in Birninkudu in the last 50 years.

“This is happening across the state, as it happened in Kazaure, where about 20 boreholes were destroyed and cables dug out and carted away; it also happened in Babura, Gumel, and Dutse. So it's rampantly happening,” Garba lamented.

He added that the rampant theft and destruction of water facilities across the state is causing hardship to the citizens in terms of access to potable water and causing a setback to government efforts to provide water for all.

The commissioner therefore advised the general public to take full ownership of all facilities and other critical infrastructure provided by government facilities in their respective communities and report any suspicious movement around such facilities to the security agencies for prompt action.

Also speaking, the Zonal Manager of the Jigawa Water Baord, in charge of Birninkudu, Buji, and Gwaram, Malam Yunusa Shuaibu, who was among those attacked by the suspected vandals, told a newsman that the hoodlums attacked the facility at about midnight on Tuesday.

“It was on Tuesday around midnight that a gang of people numbering about 10 carrying dangerous weapons attacked the facility, where I, the manager, and two other staff members were attacked.

“They tied me up and hit me and other staff with sticks, while one staff managed to escape.

“They cut off cables and stole items worth over N20 million; they ransacked the facility,” the official alleged.

Shuaibu listed the items stolen by the suspected vandals as high lift cable (150mm 4 core), DB cable (100mm 4 core), two high lift rotors (75 kV), three Kickstarters (100 kV), four solar batteries (300 arm), and computers.

Others are stock cable (6mm flexible, 150mm 4 core, 100mm 4 core, and 16mm 4 core), two batteries (150arm 12 volt), a pump (30 kV), seven impellers, overload spear parts, an iron slab, and five mobile phones.

Also commenting, the Chairman of the Council, Alhaji Magaji Yusif, pointed out that a substantial number of residents of the area depend on the facility for their daily water needs.

Yusif said two-thirds of the 200,000 residents of the local government could not get access to water due to the vandalism.

He added that the facility, built in 1972, treats 400 cubic litres of water per hour.

The chairman promised that the council would take proactive measures to prevent future incidents.

According to him, the council will also take immediate action to ensure that the water supply continues pending the general repair of the facility by the state government.