By Henry Akubuiro
Talk of major tourist sites in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, and the names that easily pop up are the Zuma Rock, Usuma Dam, Jabi Lake, Millennium Park or National Children’s Park and Zoo. Ever heard of Mpape Crushed Rock Lake? Not far from the centre of the somnolent town of Mpape is one of Abuja’s “latest” tourism sites. But beyond its beauty lie hazards.
Mpape at a glance
Abuja is a city dotted with rocks and hills. Mpape, a large, densely populated district, is a hilly area overlooking the highbrow Maitama, across the expressway linking Asokoro and Kubwa. It has its fair spread of hills and rocks. To the southwest, Mpape is bordered by Katampe, and it falls under the administration of the Bwari Area Council.
Largely undeveloped and home to Abuja’s poor and middle classes, part of Mpape has recently, however, witnessed structural transformation, especially to the left entrance area, fondly called Maitama Extension by locals. It is home to the sprawling Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village, the largest of its kind in Africa, and new estates nestling on hills.
Mpape Crushed Rock and tourism
Every Okada rider in Mpape seems to know where the Crushed Rock is located. The name “Mpape” means “rock” in the local Gwari language of the original settlers in the area.
“Is it the front or back entrance that you want to follow?” dark-skinned Haruna asked this reporter during this trip to the Crushed Rock from the motor park.
With no prior knowledge of either side of the rock, you instructed the okadaman to take you to the front entrance. The dusty ride enabled you to witness first-hand the demolition that took place in the town in August this year, which got rid of over 2,000 illegal structures, consisting of roadside shanties, containers and others said to be obstructing traffic flow.
The demolition took place after over three months of official notices and warnings to owners and occupants of those structures. It had been long in coming, for, as far back as in August 2012, when the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, had advised the then Minister of the FCT, Bala Mohammed, to restrain the government from demolishing houses in Mpape until a case instituted against the government was settled.
But, acting on the advice of landlords and residents, who complained that illegal commercial activities had reduced the road corridors to the town, government bulldozers were rolled into Mpape, leaving in their wake destruction and tears.
The main road, as we rode, looked wide but dusty, with the expanded portions untarred. Branching off to the winding path leading to the Crushed Rock, one would notice brisk business going on. Splinters of rocks and granites were placed in different circles, waiting for intending buyers. As you moved forward, the cliffs rose in varying formations until you spotted a gate at an intersection from where a middle-aged man emerged as quickly as he heard the sound of an approaching motorcycle.
He wore a vacant expression on his weather-beaten face, and with an outstretched hand, demanded, “Pay your N1,000 naira.” As he informed us, every visitor to the Crushed Rock should pay N1,000 naira or be turned back. He wouldn’t entertain any question as he braced up to turn the biker back. With access granted with a token, the motorcycle transited to the tourist site, heralded by modest green hills and moss.
A photographer welcomed you with flattery and unsolicited shots as you climbed up the cliff, and three bare-chested young men emerged from nowhere to see who the latest visitor was. They looked like blokes hiding from the realities of life, making you a bit uncomfortable. From that vantage position on the cliff, you could see the splendor of Maitama kilometres across. Below the cliffs, the blue lake shimmered in the bowl of sliced, smooth-edged rock, static, nonetheless.
It was a searing Saturday afternoon with limited tourist presence. “People have come and gone in the morning,” said the photographer, “before the harsh sun came out. By Sunday, you will see more people. It is usually full on Sundays.”
The Mpape Crushed Rock hasn’t always been a tourist site. It is an abandoned quarry opened in 1977, a year after the Federal Government of Nigeria decided to relocate Nigeria’s capital from Lagos to Abuja. The quarry supplied much of the stones used in the construction of the FCT in the 1980s. But the quarry has been abandoned since 2010.
It was a shallow quarry until workers struck an aquifer, causing water from beneath to flood the quarry and its machinery, forming a lake, a beautiful one at that. Three years ago, the site experienced tremors, yet residents who live as close as 20 metres from the periphery of the rock have remained unfazed.
Musa, a West African migrant in his twenties living nearby, told Daily Sun he didn’t witness the tremors that took place three years ago, for he only moved in two years ago. “I wasn’t here when it happened, but I have heard about it. But, does it make any difference? Houses are cheaper here than in most places in Abuja. Even if it happens again, Allah won’t allow it to consume anybody.”
Another resident who lived in the neighbourhood, who didn’t want to be named, said he and his family witnessed the tremors. “It was a bit scary, but not more than that. This is our ancestral land, and we aren’t going anywhere, though government officials have advised us to relocate. But, where are we relocating to in these hard times? I am not sure that that thing will happen again.”
However, not many Nigerians had heard about the Mpape Crushed Rock Lake until photos surfaced on social media late last year when Abuja residents flocked to the site for picnics, away from the city, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. The square hewn crush rock could pass for one of nature’s wonders, but it was partly manmade and partly accidental. Its high-level grassy plateau reaching for the blue sky also makes it an ideal place for hiking.
By August and September last year, the abandoned quarry site had played host to some Abuja disc jockeys, a catholic of sightseers, selfie fanatics and food vendors who had all found comfort and business at the site.
Though the publicised crowd of last year wasn’t repeated the day Daily Sun’s reporter visited the Crushed Rock, the few funseekers present were laden with mirth as they snapped away. Regina Ikyor, an Abuja resident, was visiting a friend in Mpape when she was told of the site, and decided to see for herself together with her friend.
“This is awesome. I never knew such a beautiful place existed in Abuja. It’s like the tourist sites you see in a place like Venice in Italy or somewhere in Europe. It doesn’t look like Nigeria at all. I have taken over 30 selfies already, beautiful pictures! I will invite more people to visit here,” she said.
Here, sightseers can choose a small winding footpath to the edge of the blue water for a narrower, stunning view of the tourist site. Daily Sun spotted four okada men washing their bikes. The lake is not only meant for sightseers, as you can see. No matter how alluring it is, swimmers are advised not to take a plunge. It could be fatal, for abandoned machinery used for quarrying still lay underneath the water.
The bigger dangers
From the base of the Crushed Rock, your nostrils began to pick the smell of weeds and animated dins. Climbing up the back exit hill, it wasn’t hard to find out where the smell was wafting from.
Daily Sun spotted a number of shanties with clusters of menacing looking young men puffing and drinking liquor. The sight of strangers made them cautious. They ran their eyes from your head to toe and never acknowledged greetings. As you made your way uphill, you encountered more shanties and youngsters with bloodshot eyes, their suspicious gazes and silent gestures making you uneasy.
Part of the complaints by Mpape’s residents and landlords, which led to the demolition of more than 2,000 shanties in Mpape in August this year, was because of the rise in criminal activities. It appeared the laggards had found a new paradise behind the cliffs.
On top of this side of the hill lay a dumpsite. It provided a contrasting spectacle, with scavengers in rags and boots selecting scraps and metals and loading them into containers and bags. They could be hardworking folks trying to make ends meet. On the other side of the dumpsite, a different kind of commerce was thriving. A welder constructing iron doors and gates was seen welding metals together. Amazingly, the dumpsite also served as his showroom.
As this reporter attempted to capture the intriguing spectacle from different angles, a solitary, gruffy-voiced young man roared from a shanty overlooking an open playground, “What nonsense is that? What do you think you are doing?” But this reporter didn’t give him any further opportunity to hawk insolence. Emerging from the dumpsite, you saw an elaborate road and a thriving market, the Mpape Market, going on. In one breath and on one axis, Mpape tells the story of beauty and the beast, all livid.
Just a few days ago, in the lead-up to Yuletide, the bulldozers rolled again, this time, on the illegal structures occupied by the menacing looking young men and other squatters. The FCT administration said the area was suspected to be criminals’ hideouts.
Already, the FCTA had identified the Mpape Crushed Rock as one of the tourist attractions in Abuja receiving the attention of private investors. However, the activities of the hoodlums were scaring away tourists.
Ikharo Attah is the Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement. He said the demolition was meant to ensure the safety of tourists during this Yuletide and the holidays.
He told newsmen after the recent demolition, “Coming back to Mpape today is to achieve two things, to clear the road which is already getting congested and to dislodge the hoodlums in this tourism site, which has been a problem.
“Looking around here, you will see the activities of scavengers and hoodlums, making tourism activities here very difficult. We have cleared here before and these hoodlums left; unfortunately, they are regrouping. The hoodlums have been snatching people’s bags and making them pay a certain amount.
“Many tourists had been harassed and molested by hoodlums at the site, including one of the media aides to the Deputy Senate President, Lara Wise. The administration cannot watch while criminal elements continue their terror reign.”
At the moment, the Mpape Crushed Rock Lake has no shade for weary sightseers or relaxation spots to cool off. Its only attractions are the square shaped bowel, shimmering blue water and grassy plateau. With the hoodlums out of the way, the only danger lurking here is perhaps the tremor. Nobody knows when it will happen next.