No fewer than two million people in areas affected by the insurgency in Borno have been reconnected to clean and safe drinking water.

The general manager of the Borno Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Mohammed Aliyu, disclosed this on Tuesday in Maiduguri at an event focused on clean water supply.

Mr Aliyu said that with the improvement in peace in the state, where insurgency led to the destruction of water facilities worth billions of naira, the state government had made remarkable strides in rural water supply.

He said, “Over 218 hybrid boreholes have been constructed across the state alongside numerous free-flow boreholes. The state government constructed 462 hand pumps and rehabilitated 316 solar-powered boreholes and 464 hand pumps, reconnecting over two million people to clean and safe drinking water.

“The government has also approved and commenced the construction of 10 standard earth dams across the state.’’

He explained that the interventions through RUWASSA complemented other initiatives by the state ministry of water and other partners like the World Bank and UNICEF in addressing water scarcity across the state.

“Recent interventions by ICRC, UNICEF, IOM and other partners have further expanded access to water in critical areas, liberating communities from water scarcity and empowering them to engage in sustainable livelihood activities such as dry-season farming.

“These efforts, coupled with ongoing projects and collaborations, underscore our collective commitment to ensuring water security and promoting peace,” Mr Aliyu said.

The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector coordinator in the North-East, Francois Bellet, said about five million people needed WASH in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

Mr Bellet said the WASH sector, comprising 42 humanitarian organisations, had 2023 assisted 1.6 million people with safe drinking water in Borno.

According to him, safe drinking water remains key to addressing vulnerabilities, preventing diseases and ensuring women and girls do not go far before accessing clean water.

In her lecture on water, the chief of the UNICEF Borno field office, Phuong Nguyen, said clean water was a privilege and a right.

(NAN)