Residents of Adakam Amumara autonomous community in the Ezinihitte Mbaise local government area of Imo State, Southeast Nigeria, have raised the alarm over the vandalism and looting of water installations in the community.
A video of the vandalism of the water infrastructure located in Umuokpo village of the community seen by SaharaReporters on Sunday shows heavy water pipes dismantled and cut into various sizes.
Also seen vandalised in the video are the reservoir and water pump equipment including the container housing the water facilities. A background voice in the video is overheard lamenting that the facility was built by the administration of Dr Sam Mbakwe in the 1980s but could not be completed before General Muhammadu Buhari's military coup truncated the project.
However, a civic organisation, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has condemned the vandalism and brazen looting of the water infrastructure.
RULAAC in a statement made available to SaharaReporters on Sunday, which was signed by its Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, called on the Imo State government and particularly, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), to investigate the incident and ensure that perpetrators were identified, fished out and prosecuted.
The statement is titled: "RULAAC calls on the Imo State Government to order an immediate investigation into the vandalisation and looting of installed government water project equipment in Umuokpo Village in Adakam Amumara Autonomous Community Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA, to apprehendrecoverls and recovering the stolen equipment."
According to the statement, accompanied by videos of the vandalised facilities, RULAAC said that it received information about the incident from the President General of Umuokpo village, Chief Oscar Uzodinma Albert.
"We, hereby, call the attention of the Imo State government, and especially the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), in line with its statutory mandate to protect public infrastructure, in conjunction with the Nigeria police, to urgently wade in and investigate the shocking incident of the vandalisation and looting of water project installations by suspected hoodlums who are reported to have claimed that they bought the installed equipment from the Imo State government.
"RULAAC is informed that the water project at Umuokpo village is one of the greater Owerri, Umuahia, Okigwe, and Aba Water Schemes started by the then Governor of old Imo State Dr. Sam Onunaka Mbakwe in the 1980s which he could not complete before the Muhammadu Buhari coup which terminated the life of the republic. Jim Nwobodo also started the greater Enugu, Awka, Onitsha, Abakaliki, and Nsukka Water Schemes but could not complete them before he lost power to late Chief Christian Onoh in the 1983 election."
RULAAC regretted that till today (August 20), most water schemes are yet to be completed, which has exacerbated the problem of acute water shortage in the zone.
It said, "This gigantic water project initiated at a huge financial cost was intended to provide pipe-borne water to Mbaise and parts of Obowo. The project contains heavy and multi-billion Naira equipment that could not be dismantled and evacuated in one week.
"Community members who learned about the illegal dismantling, vandalisation, and theft of the costly and heavy equipment at the site, are concerned that 48 hours after reporting the dastardly incident to the community, local government, and security authorities, no effort is seen to have been made to unravel the alleged crime, apprehend the perpetrators, bring them to account, recover the already stolen equipment and prevent further stealing of the remaining ones.
"Videos of scenes within the precincts of the project site reveal dismantled and massively vandalised installations with tools such as gas cylinders and others suspected to have been used for the dismantling and dismemberment of the equipment before carting most of them away."
The organisation described the deafening silence and inaction by community and local authorities who ought to speak up and take action as golden, adding that it has raised serious suspicion of insider collusion, complicity, and cover-up in the criminal act at the project site.
"RULAAC, on behalf of the President-General of Umuokpo village, being the project host community, hereby calls on the Imo State government and particularly, the NSCD, Imo State Command, to immediately step in and investigate, identify all those responsible, apprehend them, bring them to book and recover the stolen equipment," the group added.