Water scarcity hits Ilorin Jumaat Mosque

Water scarcity has hit the Ilọrin central Jumaat Mosque in Kwara State, Daily Trust can report.

The edifice renovated in 2012 is an architectural masterpiece that attracts visitors and tourists from all over the world.

The acute scarcity of water is felt more during the weekly Friday Jummah service when worshipers require a lot of water for ablution and other purposes.

Speaking on the water situation during a chat with reporters, Alhaji Suleiman Bayero, Secretary of the Management Committee of the Mosque, said that the Mosque could no longer provide enough water for the use of the congregants.

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He said the situation is becoming unbearable adding that it is worse during the Jum’aat Services on Fridays

“You know the importance of water to the Muslims in a mosque especially during the Jumaat service. Though, we made adequate provision for water supply to the mosque by requesting for a dedicated water pipe which was granted by the State Water Corporation and it was working perfectly until about two years ago when people around the vicinity started to tap the dedicated pipe.

“The Water Corporation also reduced the number of days of water supply to the mosque from three to one day.

“Though, we also dug a 280 meter borehole to complement the supply of water to the mosque, but irregular supply of electricity to pump the water to the four tanks of 40,000liters capacity tanks could not satisfy the water needs of the congregation.

“We need water to flow in the mosque 24 hours because visitors from far and near including foreigners come to visit the mosque everyday”, he said.

Bayero called on the state government to come to the aid of the mosque adding, “our water experts have been invited to assess the situation but there is currently no solution in sight. We call on the state government to wade into the matter in order to address the poor Water supply to the Mosque especially for the Friday Jum’aat Services.”