Inhabitants of Angwan Mailafia community in Kokona Local Government of Area of Nasarawa State rely on a dirty pond as a source of drinking water.
This is even as Cholera a disease that is largely caused by drinking dirty water, in the past killed 59 persons, and 892 cases were recorded in Nasarawa State
The outbreak of the disease was witnessed in eight Local Government Areas of the state and Kokona is one of them.
Mr. Ibrahim Alhassan, the Nasarawa Director of Public Health, assured that the state will put in place all necessary measures to ensure the outbreak of Cholera in the future is properly handled.
One of the approaches Mr. Alhassan said is that the state will work with the communities and other health workers for improved hygiene and provide safe and clean water.
Despite the clear knowledge that Cholera is caused by drinking dirty water, Mr. Alhassan and the Nasarawa State government are yet to provide potable water for many rural communities in the state.
This situation has led to a Nasarawa community relying on a dirty pond as a source of their drinking water.
Worse still, many of the community residents that spoke on their reliance on a pond as a source of drinking water, say many of the illnesses they had contracted are traceable to the dirty water.
Speaking on the dirty pond that was exposed by Nasarawa Mirror, a community media, Mr. Sufyan Suleiman Adam, via a Facebook comment, accused Mr. Abdullahi Sule the state governor of using the state funds to enrich himself and family members, leaving the citizens he was voted to serve to die in poverty and hunger.
He challenged other citizens of Nasarawa state to show projects that were carried out by the state governor.
Miss Asebe, a community resident, who spoke to MAWA Foundation via a telephone conversation, described the situation the inhabitants are going through as pathetic.
Asebe said apart from many of the community inhabitants relying on dirty water as their only source of drinking water, there is no hospital in the area to treat those who are ill.
“It is hard to believe that in the modern time, people still rely on a dirty pond as their only source of drinking water”, Asebe said.
“Their only crime is that they are Nigerians, they come from a country where monies meant to provide basic needs of life are stolen and nobody is held accountable,” Asebe told MAWA Foundation.
MAWA Foundation could not immediately reach out to the Nasarawa State government for an official response.