Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has commissioned a 500,000-litre-per-day water treatment plant in Naka, Gwer-West Local Government Area, effectively ending over four decades of chronic water scarcity in the Benue community.
For more than 40 years, residents of Naka and surrounding areas relied on seasonal streams, shallow wells, and contaminated ponds for survival.
In the dry season, water sources shrank into muddy puddles, while the rainy season often brought flooding that polluted open supplies, leading to frequent outbreaks of waterborne diseases and hampering productivity.
The newly inaugurated facility, commissioned is designed to serve about 35,000 people daily, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities.
The project was executed in partnership with the European Union and the International Organization for Migration as part of broader efforts to strengthen humanitarian response and infrastructure resilience in the state.
Benue, often described as Nigeria’s “Food Basket of the Nation,” currently hosts an estimated 460,000 IDPs, making it one of the largest IDP-hosting states after Borno State. Gwer-West is among the hardest-hit local government areas, where population growth and displacement have intensified pressure on limited water infrastructure.
Speaking at the commissioning, Governor Alia described access to clean water as a fundamental human right and said the project represents his administration’s commitment to inclusive development and long-term solutions rather than temporary relief measures.
The water plant, with a capacity that surpasses the outdated borehole systems previously serving the area, will distribute treated water through structured supply networks to households.
Authorities say this will significantly reduce dependence on unsafe sources, lower health risks, and ease tensions between host communities and displaced families competing for scarce resources.
The commissioning also coincided with the launch of the state’s Contingency Plan for Emergency Response (2026–2028), aimed at enhancing disaster preparedness, humanitarian coordination, and rapid response mechanisms.
Residents and local officials described the intervention as transformative, noting that time once spent fetching water can now be redirected toward farming, education, and income-generating activities.
With the Naka project now operational, the state government says it is determined to replicate similar durable infrastructure initiatives across other vulnerable communities in Benue.
