The Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Office of Drainage Services, Mahmood Adegbite, has raised alarm over water safety concerns in the Lekki area, stating that many residents who rely on boreholes may inadvertently be consuming contaminated water.
Adegbite, who spoke at a recent stakeholders meeting, said, “Anyone digging a borehole in Lekki is probably drinking what I’ll call ‘shit water.”
He elucidated that untreated wastewater in the area is seeping into the groundwater, posing serious health risks to residents.
He blamed the ongoing challenges on complex environmental factors, including unusually heavy rainfall during the August break.
Despite ongoing capital investments in drainage infrastructure, he acknowledged that more needs to be done.
Adegbite mentioned that the state has plans to improve wastewater treatment in the Lekki axis.
“If we are able to treat all the wastewater in this area as planned, we should be able to eliminate diseases that result from the current poor waste management,” he added.