Anastasia Ani crouches as she scoops water into a bucket at a shallow edge of the river. Mrs Ani removes debris on the surface of the light green-coloured water with her plastic bowl as she fills her bucket.
For residents of Umuenwene Iji Nike, a community in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Mmiri Ihe Ọjọọ river is both a blessing and a curse. Its name translates to the river of bad things in Igbo, the language widely spoken in south-east Nigeria. Yet, every day, residents trek to the river with buckets and kegs.
“This water is dirty,” Ifeanyi, another resident, says. “But we don’t have an alternative. The borehole is very far from here and the water is for sale.”
