Wuse Zone 6 - News Agency Of Nigeria

Ismail Abdulaziz
Oct, Thu, 2025

Abuja neighbourhood association protests conversion of green areas, seeks Tinubu’s intervention

By Angela Atabo
The Wuse Zone 6 Neighbourhood Residents Association in Abuja has called on President Bola Tinubu and other stakeholders to help halt the ongoing conversion of green areas.

Protesting residents told newsmen on Thursday during a march to the Department of Development Control that the development has become a grave health and environmental challenge.

The Chairman of the association, Alhaji Ayinde Soaga, said that the Abuja Master Plan deliberately preserved green areas to protect underground utility corridors and spaces for recreation.

He said residents were concerned because many of the reserved sites were now being fenced, cleared and built upon in defiance of planning regulations, putting the entire community in danger.

“We urge the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), and the Development Control Authority to urgently intervene.

” The Abuja Master Plan must be enforced to protect both the environment and critical underground infrastructure.

“Almost all the designated areas in Wuse Zone 6 have been sold and cleared for new construction, sparking fears of looming environmental and infrastructural disasters for residents.

“The most disturbing of these sites include the Julius Berger Park by Berger Junction, behind the police barracks.

” This has already been built up as a housing estate by the Nigeria Police Force Cooperative Society.

“Gilmore Gardens on Rabat Street is being prepared for the construction of a housing estate.

” The garden on Tunis-Bissau Junction, which is being converted into a club and other facilities with very strong structures, is noteworthy,” he said.

Soaga explained that the areas now under development were not just ordinary open spaces, but lying on underground sewage and water pipelines.

He said the ongoing construction in Wuse Zone 6 could turn one of Abuja’s most planned neighbourhoods into a hotbed of flooding, pollution and infrastructure failure.

“Already, residents of Wuse Zone 6 are facing the environmental menace of burst water pipes, blocked sewer lines and water and environmental contamination.

” There is hardly any street that is not having sewer line bleeding onto the streets, making them very smelly and unsightly.

“The outbreak of gastrointestinal and other waterborne diseases of huge proportions is a disaster waiting to happen in the neighbourhood.

” These challenges have been associated with the built-up estate on former Julius Berger Park in the area,” he said.

He also said the loss of green spaces would worsen flooding, increase heat and reduce air quality in the neighbourhood.

Soaga, a retired broadcaster, said trees and open spaces that once absorbed rainwater and filtered air were being replaced with concrete and steel, leaving residents vulnerable.

The chairman said that with more buildings springing up in Zone 6 outside the scope of the original master plan of the city, roads, drainage systems and power supply were also expected to come under strain from overuse.

Also speaking, Mr Ernest Frank, one of the members of the association, said he had lived in Zone 6 since 1985, adding that basic infrastructure was already overstretched.

“Zone 6 is overtly chocked and we are bleeding.

” This is a very quiet protest to halt the bleeding so that our sewer lines that are under this particular place, flowing all the way to Zone 7, are not blocked.

“We are pleading with the FCT Minister, Nyesome Wike; we are also asking President Bola Tinubu to please intervene,” he said.

The Youth Leader of Zone 6, Mr Emmanuel Adamu, said residents were gravely concerned with the conversion of green areas to estates.

“All of a sudden, these lands are now being converted into a housing project.

“The traffic situation is not too good and it is going to get worse with more houses.

” Again, where are the kids going to play?

“We want the FCT minister to intervene because we know he’s a performing minister and he listens.

” We want our president, Bola Tinubu, to intervene and bring a halt to this development.

” Let the green areas remain green,”he said.

Another resident, Hamza Madaki-Tayyub, said members of the association were taken aback when trees were being felled in the area.

“We were so disturbed and annoyed; we didn’t even know what to do.

” We began to make contacts, and then we had meetings several times. We were very concerned.

“Some of us who are members of professional bodies reached out to them.

” The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) has come out and made their position known,” he said.

He urged NITP to rise up to the occasion to protect the environment and fight for the sanctity of the master plan.

Responding, the Head of Administration, Development Control, Oche Obe, promised to relay the complaints of the protesters to the Director of Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Mufutau Ojo

Residents raise alarm over polluted water in Wuse Zone 6

Tosin Kolade
Sep, Mon, 2025

Environment

Residents raise alarm over polluted water in Wuse Zone 6

By Tosin Kolade

Residents of Wuse Zone six in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the FCT have raised alarm over alleged contaminated water running from their taps.

Complaints over polluted water in the Wuse zone six axis of AMAC have intensified in recent weeks, with several residents reporting similar experiences of unsafe water supply.

A resident, Mr Jimoh Olatunji, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja that he and his daughter fell ill after drinking from the tap.

“After drinking the water with my daughter, we both had running stomachs for days and had to visit the hospital for treatment,” Olatunji said.

Another resident, Mr Uche Uchechukwu, said the water was unfit for basic domestic use.

“Once we open the taps, black and red worms come out with a faecal smell. The water cannot be used for cooking, bathing or washing,” he said.

Chairman of the Wuse Zone Six Residents Association, Alhaji Ayinde Soaga, expressed displeasure over the development and assured members that he would take the matter up with the management of the FCT Water Board.

“Yes, by the grace of God, Insha Allah, I will go to the FCT Water Board in Area 3 this coming week, from Monday till about Friday.

“I’ll go to the office of the people who collect tenement rate to resolve the issues that were raised. By our next meeting, I assure you that I will have gotten to a conclusion on them, by God’s grace,” he said.

In a telephone interview, the General Manager of the FCT Water Board, Mr Daniel Salka, insisted that the board supplied clean potable water across the city, describing the Wuse zone 6 case as a localised issue.

“They have sent this complaint to me before. I have sent people there twice, and they discovered that it was a localised issue. We gave advice on what is to be done,” Salka said.

He explained that some houses had sewer lines close to their taps, which could lead to contamination, stressing that the Board’s supply remained clean.

He added that residents with pipes located near sewer lines or septic tanks should engage professionals to address the issue internally.

“But even this one that you are talking to me about, nobody has told me anything within the last one month or two.

“They didn’t report to me, though they used to call me. Nobody said anything to me, so I’m surprised I’m hearing it from you.

“It’s not our water. Our water is not smelling. It’s the same water we are serving to all people,” he said.

Salka advised residents not to drink the water in the meantime, adding that he would send a team through the area manager to inspect the location once details were provided.

NAN reports that water pollution is one of Nigeria’s biggest environmental and health threats, with official data showing 41 per cent of public water supplies contaminated with faecal matter.

Contamination at the source and point of consumption reaches 68 and 70 per cent, respectively, while UNICEF warns that two-thirds of water sources are unsafe.

Oil spills in the Niger Delta, where more than 92 million litres of crude have been discharged, and reports of toxic metals and microplastics in rivers such as the Osun further compound the crisis.

To tackle the challenge, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation has set up National Water Quality Reference Laboratories to track groundwater, industrial effluents and treated water.

Nigeria has also introduced laws and standards under NESREA and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, while the 1 billion dollars Ogoniland clean-up seeks to restore polluted land and water.

Plastic pollution adds to the burden, prompting government plans to ban single-use plastics nationwide from 2025, following Lagos’s earlier restrictions.

Experts, however, stress that enforcement, funding and inter-agency coordination remain crucial to protecting water resources and ensuring safe supply for Nigerians. (NAN)

Edited by Oluwafunke Ishola