Residents of Nomeh, Unateze, Mburumbu and Nkerefi communities in Nkanu East Local Govenment Area of Enugu state are currently living in fear as Nvuna River, their only source of water, has allegedly turned to blood.
Community members, who raised the alarm following the unusual incidence, said they suspected that activities of fishermen and bandits might have led to the sudden occurance.
It was also suspected that an ethanol production company located in Ituku Ozalla area of the state might have dumped waste water into the river.
In a bid to arrest the situation and avoid an epidemic, the state Governor, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, dispatched a team of experts led by his Special Adviser on water resources, Chief Dubem Onyia, on a fact finding visit to the site.
The state government’s team, after its investigation yesterday, said there was indeed a contamination and collected water samples for further laboratory test.
The team also discovered that the effluent in question had destroyed all living organisms in the river including fishes, while the water body emmited some odour.
Addressing the people of the communities, Chief Onyia, who expressed the state government’s concern, advised the people of the communities to avoid water from the river.
He assured that the state government was already considering emergency interventions such as drilling of boreholes for the affected communities prior to the river cleanup exercise.
Onyia disclosed that the state government would take further action as soon as laboratory test and more contact tracing were completed.
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