From Everest Ezihe, Owerri
Following the commissioning of a 68,000-litre-capacity solar-powered borehole donated to the Urualla Divisional Police Headquarters in Ideato North Council Area of Imo state by Dan Ngerem Sports Foundation, the atmosphere has been taken over by jubilation along with the host communities.
The event took place recently, at the Police Headquarters in Urualla.
Bringing to an end the over five decades of water crisis facing the area, the water project is now putting smiles on the faces of residents as well as improving the working condition of the police officers and residents.
Communities are now breathing a sigh of relief since 1976 they have been waiting for an intervention to have access to a potable drinking water. It was a dream that come through and was made possible by Dan Ngerem Sports Foundation.
Speaking at the event, Chief Dan Ngerem who was represented by Mr. F.I.D.A. Illobi, Esq, expressed the continued support of the Ngerem Sports Foundation in the upliftment of the living standard of the people in the society.
Just as the fully constructed and completed solar borehole was handed over to the Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Audu Garba Bosso, by the Engineer who handled the project who is also a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of DGIS Energies Ltd, Engr. Chibuike Onyejietu, FNSE.
Onyejietu added: “For more than 50 years, officers and men of the Divisional Police Headquarters, Urualla, alongside members of their host community, lived with the daily pain of acute water scarcity. Every bucket of water came at a cost. Every day without clean water reminded them of an engineering reality many considered insurmountable for a police division created in 1976. The challenge was not a lack of concern. It was geography.
”With groundwater lying at nearly 800 feet below the surface, the Urualla terrain had defeated several attempts to provide a sustainable water supply. What should have been a basic human necessity became a luxury.”
While receiving the water project, the Imo state commissioner of Police, CP Audu Garba Bosso who could not hide his feelings, described the Dan Ngerem’s gesture as commendable.
”The projects are expected to improve the welfare of personnel and enhance the operational environment of the division and I call on other individuals and organizations to emulate the gesture,” he said.
After the commissioning of the water project, the commissioner of Police began a confidence building patrol to community stakeholders, and police formations in the area, where he called “on members of the community to provide timely and credible information to the Police to aid crime prevention as well as charged vigilantes of the Imo State Security Organization to work closely with their respective DPOs,” emphasizing”the importance of effective collaboration and information sharing in maintaining peace and security.”
He also urged them to operate strictly within the law and exercise restraint in the handling and use of firearms.
As part of the highlight of the event was the visit of the Commissioner of Police to the Palace of the Ancient Kingdom of Urualla, His Royal Majesty, Eze Nnabugo Okosisi Ezeanyika.
Among the dignitaries that witnessed the event was the Chairman of Ideato North Local Government Area, Hon. Arc. Chukwunonso Okpareke and others.
Imo: Police, Community jubilate as Ngerem ends 50- year water crisis in Urualla
