The Lagos State Government has warned that people who are drilling boreholes in the Lekki axis of the state are probably drinking ‘shit water’.
This was made known by the Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services and Water Resources in Lagos State, Mahmood Adegbite, while speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting recently.
Adegbite pointed out that contaminated boreholes in Lekki pose a health risk and added that the treatment of wastewater would eradicate any form of disease that may arise from it.
He, however, noted that if the state government is able to treat all the wastewater within that axis, it will be able to eradicate any form of disease that might result from the non-treatment of the waste.
Adegbite said, ‘’Good morning, just to add to Mr. Chairman, sir, deputy sir, if you recall, you chaired the meeting we had on the challenges along the coastal road, the flooding challenges. So it is one of the major things we are hoping to resolve, and also yesterday it rained heavily, which is unusual because this is supposed to be the August break. However, we started having it because of a lot of complex issues.
‘’So basically, in terms of flooding, despite the fact that we have committed so much, however, we still need a lot to do in that space. Presently, also, on waste water treatment, I will say that everyone digging a borehole within the Lekki axis is probably drinking what I will call ‘Shit water’
‘’However, if we are able to treat all the wastewater within this axis, which we have plans for, we should be able to also eradicate any form of disease that might result as a result of non-treatment of our waste”
The Lagos State Government had always warned against the indiscriminate sinking of boreholes, as well as implementing regulations and enforcement measures to ensure safe water consumption and protect groundwater resources.
This includes requiring permits for drilling and potentially charging fees, particularly for commercial users. The state is also concerned about water contamination from unregulated borehole drilling and is working to address this issue.
The state government, through the Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LSWRC), had cautioned operators in the borehole drilling industry against operating without the requisite licence or permit from the State government.