Residents of Bade, Gashua, Jakusko and other communities in Bade Local Government Area of Yobe have been battling a chronic kidney disease suspected to be caused by contaminated water. The ICIR investigation found that a N5.7 billion Gashua water scheme the federal government commissioned in Yobe in May 2025 to serve over 1 million residents remains dormant.
The project facilitated by former Senate President, Senator Amad Lawan, a resident of Gashua, was inaugurated by the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, who described it as a strategic solution to long-standing water scarcity and repeated outbreaks of waterborne diseases in the region.
Ironically, findings by The ICIR showed that the water scheme functioned in the presence of the dignitaries that commissioned the project but stopped operating thereafter. The facility which has a water laboratory for water treatment was found firmly locked, with no sign of staff or activity as the surrounding compound has been overtaken by thick bushes and weeds, giving the impression that it had been abandoned for months without maintenance or human presence.
How we were diagnosed of kidney disease-Residents
In January 2024, Abdullahi Zakari, decided to visit the nearest clinic in Gashua, in Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State when he started experiencing general discomfort and frequent vomiting.
“When I went to the clinic, they found out that I was having hypertension. I didn’t even know that I had high blood pressure (HBP). I had never checked my BP in my life. My BP was reading 200, 190 something, 180 something,” Zakari said.
The 33-year-old father of one, said that he continued to take the drugs the doctor prescribed but started having blurry vision, swollen legs and shortness of breath, which prompted him to visit the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano State on March 7, 2024, for a general test.
“That’s when I found out that I was having this kidney problem. So, for two years now, every week, I go to the specialist hospital in Damaturu twice for dialysis,” he said.
Zakari, a private worker, said that the state specialist hospital doesn’t charge for the dialysis but he spends at least N60,000 on transportation, accommodation, and feeding weekly for the dialysis.
