EXCLUSIVE(SAHARA REPORTERS): Enugu Deputy Governor's Hometown Residents Battle Filthy Water, Share Stream with Cattle

Residents of Urukpa Ezimo Community, located in the Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, which also happens to be the hometown of Deputy Governor Mr. Ifeanyi Ossai, have voiced profound dissatisfaction over what they describe as prolonged government neglect. They claim that despite numerous pledges for clean water projects, they are still forced to rely on a single, contaminated stream for all their drinking water needs.

Photographic evidence obtained by SaharaReporters on Tuesday from the community vividly illustrates the severe environmental degradation. One image shows the surface of the primary water source appearing cloudy, laden with floating organic debris, and heavily discolored by silt runoff. Additional pictures reveal residents navigating a treacherous, muddy dirt path, churned by foot traffic and erosion, to reach a basic concrete basin containing a stagnant, brown, and muddy mixture that serves as their main domestic water supply.

Locals informed SaharaReporters that this community, which has produced the state's second-highest official, remains without a functional public water system. This forces families to daily fetch water from Iyi Urukpa, a natural stream that has been their sole source of drinking water for generations. They highlighted that the situation has escalated into a public health crisis, as both people and livestock now depend on the identical water source. Residents further alleged that cattle frequently enter the stream to drink, leaving behind animal waste, while erosion contributes mud, refuse, agricultural runoff, and other pollutants to the water body.

“The same water our children drink is the same water where cattle drink and defecate,” one resident lamented, adding, “The stream has become polluted, but we have no alternative because every government promise to provide potable water has ended in disappointment.”

Community members accused successive Enugu State administrations of consistently announcing water projects in the area during election campaigns, only to fail in delivering sustainable infrastructure. They recounted instances where politicians would arrive with equipment, make public declarations about improving water access, and then depart without completing the promised works.

“They come with fanfare, cameras and promises. They tell us potable water is our right, but after the elections everything disappears and we are left to continue fetching water from the same stream,” another resident stated.

An anonymous community leader, fearing repercussions, characterized Urukpa Ezimo’s plight as indicative of a broader failure in rural infrastructure across Enugu State. Beyond the lack of clean water, he claimed the community grapples with poor road networks, limited job opportunities, and an absence of meaningful government empowerment initiatives. “We are trapped between a government that remembers us only during election campaigns and politicians who use intimidation to suppress the people’s will,” he alleged. The leader also claimed that political thugs were deployed during a recent by-election to intimidate residents, questioning, “Do you know that during the recent by-election, thugs were deployed to thwart our collective will?”

An elderly resident expressed bewilderment at why a community linked to the state’s Deputy Governor continues to experience such fundamental infrastructural deprivation. “If the hometown of the Deputy Governor cannot get a functional borehole, what hope is there for other rural communities?” he queried. The elder further alleged that the community's current electricity supply was not a government initiative but resulted from collective self-help efforts by residents. “Our fathers and many of us contributed money to bring electricity here, yet government officials claim the credit,” he asserted. He also dismissed government claims about solar streetlights transforming the area, noting that many parts of the community still lack functional lighting.

Residents voiced concerns that continued reliance on the contaminated stream could expose children and other vulnerable individuals to waterborne diseases. They appealed to the Enugu State Government to promptly implement a sustainable potable water scheme, rather than politically motivated interventions that seldom last beyond election cycles. They emphasized that access to clean water should not be contingent on political allegiance or proximity to those in power. They highlighted that the only borehole constructed in the community, under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Program Phase 1 (ATASP-1), is inaccessible to residents. “It is managed by cronies and political family. Always locked unless instruction is provided,” a resident told SaharaReporters. They urged Governor Peter Mbah’s administration to investigate the community’s conditions and prioritize long-term investments in rural water infrastructure. Efforts to get a response from the Enugu State Government were unsuccessful at the time of this report.