THE Nigerian government awarded contracts for the construction of a dam in each of the Monkin and Sabon Pegi communities, Zing Local Government Area (LGA) of Taraba State, between 2014 and 2021. The contractors could not deliver the projects. They abandoned the sites after the government claimed it had spent nearly N1 billion on the dams. This compelled the two leading anti-graft agencies in the country to investigate the contracts. The ICIR unravels the issues surrounding the dams.
In 2014, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources contracted a Nigerian firm, Crestline Services Ltd, to construct a dam in the Monkin community in Zing LGA.
The town erupted in joy when the contractor deployed about a dozen project vehicles and other equipment to the site. The people thought there was an end in sight to their years of suffering from acute water scarcity during the dry season when they struggled with cattle to scoop unsafe water at the river flowing through a section of the community.
Despite having a Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) law that promises adequate water supply, Taraba State is among the three states in Nigeria with the lowest access to safe water. Several reports, including this, and this revealed how the Zing LGA has faced acute water scarcity.
Jubilation by the Monkin residents over the new dam was short-lived, as work on the project started at a snail pace and stalled thereafter.
The only visible project done by Crestline Services Ltd at the Monkin dam. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
Eleven years after the company got the contract, two towers are the only shred of evidence that a dam is being constructed at the site.
This was after the company had allegedly been paid N514,121,807 million from the contract sum totalling N854,121,807, leaving a balance of N340,000,000.
The Federal Ministry of Water Resources, which awarded the contract did not just stop at the payment to Crestline Service Ltd, it paid two other companies N108,224,494 for supervising and designing the project.
It hired Tech-Consultant International Associates Ltd on December 20, 2019, to supervise the dam but handed over the site to the firm on February 11, 2021.
The contract sum for the supervision was N74,842,000 out of which the ministry said it paid N22,408,494, leaving a balance of N52,433,505.
A side view of some of the project vehicles abandoned by Crestline Services Ltd in Monkin community
Meanwhile, the ministry had earlier engaged Willbond Nig. Ltd for study and design of the dam for which it paid N85,816,000.
These were contained in the ministry’s response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by The ICIR over the project.
In the response, with reference number FMWR&S/LU/S/853/I, and titled, “RE: Freedom of Information Request on Monkin Dam Construction Project in Zing LGA, Taraba State,” the ministry confirmed it awarded the contract to Crestline Services Ltd. The project was to be done between December 18, 2014, and December 18, 2015, that is 12 months.
The letter was dated September 9, 2025, and signed by Abdullahi Zakari, a lawyer, for the minister.
Crestline Services abandons multi-billion-naira vehicles at project site
What is more shocking is how Crestline Services Ltd has abandoned its project vehicles worth billions of naira at the site. The vehicles were already rotting when our reporter visited the community in June.
The vehicles include two excavators, one tractor, one leveller, one water tanker, two sand trucks, and two other trucks. They were nine altogether. Residents said the company left the site in 2019.
A cement mixing truck abandoned at the dam construction site in Monkin by Crestline Services Ltd
Many residents in Monkin are unhappy with the government and the company’s failures to deliver the project.
Among them is the community secretary, Musa Barnabas. He said, “We were anxious to have this dam. With it, we felt our people would have access to safer water, engage in irrigated farming, and our years of sharing water with animals during the dry season would end. What we are seeing today with the project is really unfortunate.”
Meanwhile, the ministry had earlier engaged Willbond Nig. Ltd for study and design of the dam for which it paid N85,816,000.
These were contained in the ministry’s response to the FoI request by The ICIR over the project.
Sabon Pegi Dam
Zing town and its neighbouring communities heaved a sigh of relief when another contractor, Dan-Omar Nigeria Ltd, moved its equipment to the Sabon Pegi community in 2021 to construct a dam. Sabon Pegi consists of mainly farmlands with a few residential buildings. It borders Zing town.
The project, meant to be completed within 24 months, was awarded at the sum of N140,754,453.13 by the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority (UBRBDA), an agency under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources. The organisation told The ICIR that N91.61 million was released to the contractor.
Responding to an FoI request by The ICIR, the UBRBDA through a letter referenced S/RIV/137/S.169/VOL.1 and dated August 25, 2025, affirmed that Dan-Omar Nig. Ltd got the contract for the dam.
A section of the Sabon Pegi dam. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
The contract was awarded on October 18, 2021, for N140,754, 453.13, out of which the UBRBDA said it had paid N97,011,278.75. The contract had 24-month completion period. It noted that the company left the site because of funding paucity.
Ernest Uboh, Acting Head, Procurement Unit, signed the letter on behalf of the Managing Director.
The organisation had reportedly said that M/S Pro-XL Civil Engineers Ltd got the contract to design the dam at the sum of N48,81,012.50 in October 2020.
The company submitted the final design in March 2021, and was paid N40,000,000. The ICIR reports that the total fund the Nigerian government has released to all the five companies hired for the two dams is N753,957,579.
This organisation further.reports that the government has yet to pay the owners of the sites where the dams are located, despite making either full or significant payments to the contractors.
When our reporter visited the site in June, Dan-Omar Nigeria Ltd had abandoned the project, citing the Federal Government’s failure to release funding for its completion. None of the company’s equipment was left at the site.
However, rather than bring an enduring joy to the area, the project left the Zing community mourning one of its children, an 11-year-old boy who died while swimming with his friends in the uncompleted dam.
Some of the Crestline Services Ltd’s vehicles at the Monkin Dam site
The Secretary to the Emir of Zing, Ibrahim Baba Zing, said: “One of our children died at the dam site last year while swimming. He went with his friends to swim there. After they finished swimming, one of them returned and began to swim alone, and he drowned.”
He also expressed displeasure with the project handling by the government and the contractor. “They started the construction, and they’re saying they can’t finish it. This is not helping anybody. We are thinking that people will benefit from that project through irrigation. We are not happy with it.”
The project was designed to enable herders to get enough water for their cattle, especially during the dry season and help farmers engage in irrigated farming.
Suspicion observed in Sabon Pegi contract award
The ICIR investigation revealed that Dan-Omar Nig. Ltd, incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on January 14, 2020, with RC 1650141, got the contract in October 2021. The company, based in Gombe State, was not the original firm that won the contract.
One of the trucks left by Crestline Services Ltd at project site in Monkin community. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
A firm, M/S Kuroko Projects Ltd, with RC number 1610293, secured the contract. The company was incorporated by the CAC on September 2, 2019, and had its address in Abuja as of the time it won its bid for the project.
The UBRBDA did not explain why M/S Kuroko ‘donated’ the contract to Dan-Omar Ltd. The organisation noted in its letter to The ICIR, “The contract for the construction of small earth dam at Sabon Pegi LGA was awarded to M/S Kuroko Project Ltd of No. 5 Mangal Plaza, Zone 1, Wuse Abuja, on the 18th October, 2021.
“The work was later donated to M/S Dan-Omar Nig. Ltd of No. 1 Alh. Musa Hassan House, Herwagana Quarters, Gombe, Gombe State, by M/S Kuroko Projects Ltd.”
Meanwhile, the UBRBDA said the spillway construction for the dam had been completed 100 per cent; earthwork on embankment stood at 85 per cent; while upstream and downstream slope protection was 66 per cent. The ICIR reports that it will take independent experts to confirm the claims vis-a-vis the fund already expended on the project.
A building allegedly constructed by the company for its work at the site. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
Contradictions
While one of the Monkin leaders claimed the community youth prevented Crestline Services Ltd from moving out its project vehicles because it failed to complete the project, one of the company workers, Christian Osunde, who claimed to be the project supervisor, denied the claim. He said nobody ever attempted to stop the company from moving out its equipment from Monkin town.
He argued that the contractor would leave the site with its equipment at any time, if it so wished.
However, as it currently stands, the vehicles cannot be taken out of Monkin town. The road leading to the community is completely damaged and has become almost impassable for vehicles.
One of the residents who pleaded not to be named put the situation of the road this way: “We have a former senator from this town. We also have one of our illustrious sons as the Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. When coming home, they cannot drive their vehicles to this place. They will have to park in Zing before finding their way here.”
It takes motorbikes about two hours to move from Zing to Monkin, and it will take any vehicle four hours to drive to the community, given the terrible state of the road.
A section of Monkin road. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
While some residents opined that Crestline Services Ltd might have abandoned the project because of government’s failure to fully complete the project, others felt there was nothing on the ground to justify what the government had paid the contractor.
Meanwhile, sources, including one of the officials of Dan-Omar Nig. Ltd, Sunusi Omar, confirmed to The ICIR that the projects were investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in April 2024. They concluded that the government and contractors ensure the projects are completed.
The sources claimed that the Federal Government stopped funding for the projects because the House of Representatives member who initiated the projects was no longer in office. A source who also pleaded anonymity said the projects were a mere waste of public funds. He argued that the dams were not the immediate needs of the communities.
“Monkin is an agrarian community. We produce large amounts of food crops, which go to waste yearly because there is no road for buyers to get to the community. It is also very difficult for us to take these crops out of the community to sell. Why can’t a responsible government think of constructing good road for us instead of a dam?” the source said.
Another section of Monkin road. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
The reporter contacted two former House of Representatives members (Malle Aminu and Kasimu Maigari) who represented the Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency during the periods the contracts were awarded. The current member representing the constituency, Sadiq Tafida, and the state Commissioner for Water Resources, Daniel Ishaku, were also contacted over the state of the project.
Tafida said, “Those dams were done during another person’s tenure. We are also investigating what happened.”
The Taraba State Commissioner for Water Resources, Daniel Ishaku, told the reporter that his administration came into power after the contracts had been awarded.
“These two dams were awarded in the last administration, which I don’t know anything about,” he stated.
The reporter contacted Tech-Consultants International Associates Ltd., hired by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to provide consultancy services for the Monkin dam.
One of its officials, who claimed he was not authorised to speak on the projects, said, “If you have investigated very well, you will discover that along the line, the contractor was owed. There were jobs he did that he wasn’t able to collect the money for. You know this project is an artwork. If you’re a contractor, you’ve done a job and you’re not paid on time, and you don’t know when you’re going to be paid, you can’t go to the bank and borrow money to complete the job.”
He said his company was paid based on the work done. He also blamed the failure to deliver the projects on the government’s inability to release funds for them.
Crestline Services leveller abandoned in Monkin town. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
Crestline Services Ltd fails to react
After failed attempts by the reporter to locate the company’s office in Enugu and Abuja, The ICIR contacted the Monkin dam site manager, Mercy Taranya, who directed the reporter to Christian Osunde who said he supervised the project.
Several appeals by the reporter to link him with the company’s managing director fell on deaf ears. Osunde also refused to disclose the company’s address in Abuja.
He said he contacted the firm’s managing director and explained the reporter’s concerns and requests. He also sent the reporter’s phone number to the director, including the recordings of his phone conversation with the reporter.
According to him, the director did not give him permission to send his phone number to the reporter.
The reporter again called the site manager (Taranya), who is based in Jalingo, if she could help with the director’s phone number. The reporter called her more than two weeks; she did not pick any of the calls.
As part of efforts to contact the firm, The ICIR paid and obtained the company’s details from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The company’s status showed ‘active’, meaning it met its obligations with the CAC, including filing its annual returns.
Some of the Crestline Services Ltd’s vehicles at the Monkin Dam site. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
From the details, the reporter got three means to contact the company’s directors, shareholders and secretary. They are the company’s address in Enugu State, the company’s secretary phone number, and an email address belonging to one of the company’s directors.
A lady, Ugwu Jane, registered as the company’s secretary, expressed shock when told by the reporter that her name was registered at the CAC as the company’s secretary. She screamed, “Really? I was just a secretary to the director, not as part of the company.” She said she worked for nine months with the director and left in 2014 when she got admission to school.
The reporter also sent a mail to an email address submitted by the company the CAC. The firm did not response to the mail.
Crestline Services Ltd was incorporated with the CAC, with RC 14310, on January 25, 1975. It was registered as a private company limited by shares, and had its operations office at 26, Oghete Crescent, Enugu State. The ICIR could not locate this address, as many people contacted in Enugu, the state capital, said they were not aware of any street bearing the name in the city. According to them, only an Ogbete Market exists in the city.
Expired cement bags abandoned by Crestline Services Ltd at the project site in Monkin town. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
Crestline Services Ltd is most likely a family enterprise, as all its directors and stakeholders share the same surname. The stakeholders are the director, Ude Christian Chukwuma, Ude Florence Uzodinma, and Ude Afamefuna.
Parts of the company’s jobs include undertaking general contracting business, import and export transactions, and building and civil engineering.
Monkin, Sabon Pegi communities lament on abandoned projects
Musa Barnabas, Secretary of the Monkin community, expressed disbelief at how Crestline Services Ltd abandoned the dam and its vehicles.
“We don’t know the reason the company abandoned its vehicles. You can see them over there. They are not working, and we don’t know what stopped them from working. We’re aware that the government has sunk a lot of money into this place, and there is nothing to show for it.”
He added, “They would come with either cements or rods, and before you know, they have siphoned the whole thing (money), and we will not see any structure. That’s what they used to do. Maybe the tactic they are using, when the Federal Government reimburses the company, they will take that advantage and come over here with a few things. When they stay for one, two, or three months, they will just go. The work is intermittent.”
Some of the stones brought to the site by the contractor. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
He said it was sad that the Federal Government would waste millions on the project for years without completing it.
According to him, there is no engagement between the contractor and the community. He said this would have enabled the community to follow up with the project.
He explained that had the work been concluded, it would have created more jobs for the community’s teeming youth, who would have engaged in more farming activities. He also said it would have enabled cattle farmers to have adequate water for their animals.
The leader of the community youth, David Daniel, averred that Crestline Services Ltd had no good relationship with its host and also sneaked into the site with a few items such as cement and rods.
Daniel said the vehicles were at the site because the community blocked the company from leaving the site.
The lush vegetation of Monkin town. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
“There is no good relationship between the contractor and the community. This is because whenever the company brought its equipment and things like cement to the dam and spent like two weeks, they would pack all the things they brought and take them away. There was a time when they were about to pack all these vehicles and go with them, the community youth blocked the road and said they must construct the road before they pack their things.
“That is the reason you saw some of the vehicles they were using not functioning. They were about to take them away but we organised the youth to prevent them because they had to construct the dam.”
He said the vehicles had been grounded since 2018. He emphasised that the contractor had no good relationship with the community.
Shonnashire Bitrus, a female student and indigene of the community, said residents dragged water with animals, which she described as degrading to the people.
A section of Monkin community. PC: Marcus Fatunmole/ICIR
“Our main problem in this ward is that we don’t have good water to use. We drag water with animals. We also don’t have good roads. We farm, but taking our produce to the market is a problem. The buyers don’t come because it is difficult to access our community.”
Similarly, in Sabon Pegi, Silas Pius said the community was disappointed that the work had stopped. He said it would have supported herders and farmers to cater to their cattle and engage in irrigated farming, respectively.
He called on the government to complete the project.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org
