A multi-million-naira water station built under the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in Ogoniland, Rivers State, has collapsed just four days after commissioning.
The Gwara facility in Khana Local Government Area was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to provide safe water to oil-polluted Ogoni communities.
It however reportedly developed structural faults that led to the collapse of its reservoir platform.
Reacting on Wednesday, HYPREP said it was “deeply disturbed” by the incident and had set up a high-level committee to investigate the cause.
“The Project Coordinator, Professor Nenibarini Zabbey, has constituted a committee to visit the site and commence investigation into the immediate and remote cause of this unfortunate incident,” the agency said.
HYPREP added that the Gwara case was “isolated,” noting that 16 other stations have been running successfully across over 40 communities.
It assured residents that repairs and water restoration would begin soon.
Residents, however, blamed poor workmanship for the failure. “We were so happy when the project started running, thinking our suffering had finally ended. But just a few days later, the entire structure gave way. This shows that the contractors did a very poor job,” said Mrs. Fyneface Baridam, a local resident.
Environmental groups condemned the incident, linking it to corruption and weak oversight in the Ogoni cleanup.
Dr. Kaani Zorva, Executive Director of the Centre for Oil Pollution and Environmental Response (COPER), said, “This collapse is not just an engineering failure; it is a moral failure. Billions have been spent in the name of the Ogoni people, yet what we see are substandard projects designed to fail.”
The Ogoni cleanup, launched in 2016 and renewed under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, continues to face criticism over poor implementation and accountability.
