An abandoned quarry in Nigeria has been become a tourist hotspot after images were posted on social media earlier this month.

The rocky cliffs climbing into a blue sky, a moss-lined footpath, small green hills and a lake that shimmers in the sun are quite breath-taking and a set of images shared on Twitter at the beginning of August has been liked more than a thousand times .

In a matter of days of the post, the site, known as Crushed Rock, in Mpape - a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of the capital Abuja - was thronged.

There has been a DJ stand, food vendors, hundreds of sun-bathing selfie-takers - and even a band of classical musicians.
The coronavirus pandemic has also had a part to play in encouraging these young middleclass Nigerians to explore the hills in the country's rocky central region.

The lockdown, which prevented people from travelling elsewhere, has meant that places closer to home are being explored.
The area around Mpape, which means "rock" in the local Gwari language, has supplied much of the stone used to transform Abuja from a small village in the 1980s into the country's capital city.

"The quarry has existed for more than 10 years," said Mpape resident Courage Ebenz, who is somewhat bemused by the sudden influx of city-dwellers.
Nigeria has an abundance of natural beauties, but this "man-made" location has its own appeal - with three main tiers that each give a stunning view of the water below.

Sightseers can choose a small winding footpath to the top terrace, where the grass is an ideal picnic location.
According to Abraham Adepelumi, a geo-physicist at Obafemi Awolowo university, the lake was formed as a result of the fracturing of an aquifer.

"Once the rock got fractured, the water within the rock was under pressure," he told the BBC.

"It is a natural phenomenon, Mpape is a fracture-prone area of Abuja and has experienced tremors as recent as 2018."

Source:https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-africa-53806880

Beautiful sight to behold...I hope the "tourists" there for sightseeing and business people hanging around, making money there, will be kind enough to keep the place clean by being magnanimous enough to throw their thrash in the designated waste bins, before they turn the place to an eyesore with dirt littered everywhere, even on the sparkling lake

This in Obodo Abuja?

Lovely

Why is that lady harassing the people there with indecent exposure?

backnbeta:
Beautiful sight to behold...I hope the "tourists" there for sightseeing and business people hanging around, making money there, will be kind enough to keep the place clean by being magnanimous enough to throw their thrash in the designated waste bins, before they turn the place to an eyesore with dirt littered everywhere, even on the sparkling lake

Hallelujah someborry!

backnbeta haff vex!

I join you to hope so too. We need to work on/enforce our maintenance culture.

The place looks beautiful. I'm sure the government will set up structure to manage the place.

The revelers should be careful not to fall inside that water to avoid stories that touch.

bukatyne:
This in Obodo Abuja?

Lovely

Why is that lady harassing the people there with indecent exposure?

It's like Yu don't know Abuja

Yu go use eye chop 100 babes a day...

And if they don't dress dat way depression sets in.

Get ur pomade make lemonade

Why that dude for the last picture come carry that speaker?

I dislike seeing boys carry speaker up and down. The worse ones are the one's that play music while walking

Like Northerner's do with their phone.

Abuja people and hiking.

I'll definitely go there for hiking. love it

Is this what my fellow country people are celebrating

No wonder the nation is not progressing