Water Corporation Warns Ikoyi Residents Against Staff Harassment

The management of Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) has expressed concern over intimidation and harassment of its staff by some residents of Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi.

A former lawmaker, Senator Sunday Fajinmi, who is the Chairman of Dolphin Estate Residents Association, has  been fingered as the person behind the disturbance.

A statement issued by the Managing Director, Lagos Water Corporation, Muminu Badmus, stated that residents of the Estate have “continually harassed workers of the Corporation thereby preventing them and contractors from carrying out their official duties.”

According to him, LWC recently received a report of burst water mains and a team of Engineers was promptly dispatched to carry out repairs, but were prevented and held hostage by security personnel allegedly on the instruction of the Chairman of Residents Association.

 He explained that it took the intervention of top management staff of LWC to secure the release of the staff.

“In a similar incident, LWC staff and contractors who visited the Estate to sensitize the residents on the installation and use of prepaid meters, as well as the need to reduce water wastage, were equally sent away after their tools, materials and some pre-paid meters were seized by security details and hired social miscreants,” the statement said.

Badmus also stated that on November 17, 2017, LWC and IBS Consultancy staff, while embarking on an enumeration exercise for the purpose of obtaining accurate data of the customers, were arrested, their operational vehicles seized and all efforts to resolve the issue were flagrantly rebuffed by the former Senator.

He pledged the commitment of the LWC to ensure that every household in the State has access to potable water in conformity with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s mandate, adding that no amount of intimidation will deter the Corporation from achieving the set objectives.

He said that LWC will not fold its arms and allow some residents to thwart government efforts at providing essential services and warned the general public, particularly the group in Dolphin Estate, to desist from the act or face the full wrath of the law.