Ibi Water Plant Abandoned, Overtaken By Weeds as Communities Face Water Crisis

 Residents and community leaders have raised alarm over the prolonged neglect of the multi-billion-naira Ibi Water Treatment and Reticulation Plant, warning that worsening water scarcity and dependence on unsafe sources could trigger serious public health crises in Southern Taraba.

The water facility, located in Ibi Local Government Area, was conceived as a major intervention project to provide potable water to Ibi, Wukari and surrounding communities. Designed to operate with standard treatment processes including intake works, aeration, coagulation, filtration and disinfection, the plant was expected to drastically reduce the consumption of unsafe water in the region.

However, nearly a decade after its establishment, the facility remains largely non-functional. The once strategic infrastructure has been overtaken by weeds, exposed to vandalism and left to gradual decay, raising concerns over accountability and the utilisation of public funds committed to the project.

Residents said repeated appeals to successive administrations to revive the plant have yielded no result, forcing communities to rely on unsafe and contaminated water sources, often shared with animals.

The abandoned project has also drawn the attention of a frontline aspirant for the Taraba State House of Assembly, Barrister Gaddafi Ibrahim Tanko, who described the situation as a looming public health emergency and a betrayal of public trust.

Tanko, who is seeking to represent Ibi Constituency, said prolonged neglect has rendered workers attached to the project redundant, with many reportedly sent home due to the plant's non-functionality.

"I will not sit in the Taraba State House of Assembly representing Ibi while a multi-billion-naira water project lies in ruins and remain silent," he said.

The legal practitioner called on Governor Agbu Kefas to urgently intervene to resuscitate the facility, stressing that access to clean and safe water remains a fundamental right.

Tanko warned that continued neglect of the project could expose thousands of residents in Ibi and neighbouring communities to water-borne diseases if immediate action is not taken.

"This is not just infrastructural neglect; it is a public health emergency. Ibi deserves better," he added.