The Niger State Government has threatened to disconnect water supply from the State Water and Sewage Corporation to the Army Barracks, Minna for failure to settle their water bills.
The Commissioner of Water Resources, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman made the threat in a reaction to the debts owed by Security agencies and efforts being made by some to settle them in the state during a media round-table in Minna.
Earlier, the Assistant General Manager (AGM), Commercial Services of the Niger State Water and Sewage Corporation, Aliyu Danladi Umar had told the Commissioner that the Nigeria Army, Police, Department of State Security (DSS) and other Paramilitary agencies are owing to the Corporation over N7 million for the water they consumed.
The AGM stated that despite efforts made by the Corporation for the organizations to settle their debts nothing has been achieved.
He noted that presently, frantic efforts are being made by the Police to pay up especially for the water it consumed from January to date, while the backlog of debts is yet to be settled.
However, Umar stated that when a request was made for the settlement of the bills through our consultants, the Corporation was told that approval for payment has to come from the Army Headquarters and not from the soldiers living in the barracks.
The military and paramilitary are said to owe the state Water and Sewage Corporation about N300 million.
According to him, in order to address the no-revenue water being experienced, the Corporation would soon introduce domestic metering to consumers.
Therefore, visibly unhappy with the situation, the Commissioner said since the Police is currently making efforts to pay their water bills, it is wrong for the Army not to pay for theirs.
“If it will be proper for the police to pay and those living in police quarters to pay for their water bills, it should not be difficult for those in the Army barracks to pay.
“Tell them that if it is difficult for them to pay, it will not be difficult for us to disconnect them from water. It is not our business if the people in the army barracks are not paying utility or not.”
Suleiman insisted that without paying for services offered by the Corporation, it would be difficult to continue to supply water to the people.
The commissioner further told the AGM, “The next time you meet with them, tell them that if they are finding it difficult to pay, it will not be difficult for us to disconnect them. What we need is payment for our service”
