In Kpai Kpai, a rural settlement tucked away in Gosa, Gui Ward of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, over 3,000 residents are living through a worsening humanitarian crisis that has left them without access to basic human necessities — water, education, and healthcare.
A recent visit by MonITNG, a civic technology organisation, uncovered harrowing details about the deteriorating conditions in this neglected part of Nigeria’s capital.
The community depends on a single, frequently faulty borehole, and when it breaks down, residents are forced to draw water from a contaminated river. Consuming or even bathing with this water reportedly causes severe health reactions, including urinating blood.
“We urinate blood when we use this water,” a distressed resident said, pointing to the murky river. “We don’t have a school, we don’t have a hospital. If we are sick, we must cross a dangerous river to reach help — and during the rainy season, that’s almost impossible.”
The situation extends beyond water. Kpai Kpai has no primary or secondary schools, meaning children are deprived of formal education. There is no medical facility within or near the community, and the nearest clinic requires crossing a river by canoe, a treacherous journey that becomes deadly during floods.
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Despite being located in the Federal Capital Territory, Kpai Kpai remains completely cut off from government development initiatives. According to MonITNG, the community has become a symbol of systemic abandonment. The organisation has issued a public appeal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Senator Ireti Kingibe, urging them to take immediate action.
“This is not a rural fringe in a far-off region — this is in Abuja,” MonITNG said. “Yet, there’s no school, no health post, no road. Just one borehole that barely works. These are not statistics; they are people.”
Kpai Kpai is not alone. Other rural communities within the FCT — including Gwagwa, Giri, Jiwa, and Gaube — have voiced similar complaints about neglect, lack of water infrastructure, poor roads, and insufficient healthcare access. In 2023, Gaube residents staged protests over unfulfilled promises by government officials.
The ongoing crisis in Kpai Kpai strikes at the heart of Nigeria’s pledge to uphold the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — especially SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), and SDG 4 (Quality Education).
Residents of Kpai Kpai are not demanding luxuries. Their plea is simple: access to safe water, a local school, and basic healthcare. Until these are met, their existence remains defined by suffering that, in a city as resource-rich as Abuja, is both tragic and avoidable.
The Conclave
