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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rights activists and lawmakers have indicted law enforcement agencies of their involvement in the environmental pollution going on in the Niger Delta region.
They have also raised the alarm on the increasing rate of artisanal refining of petroleum products and deaths recorded from such illegal business.
The stakeholders spoke at a policy dialogue meeting on the theme: “Artisanal refining: Strategies for addressing its environmental pollution in the Niger Delta and environs”, organized by the National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday.
The activists, who included environmental experts, discovered that the major source of soot experienced in Port Harcourt and its environs was as a result of a myriad of illegal refining activities across the Niger Delta region.
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Speaking, Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area and former Leader, Rivers State House of Assembly, Chidi Lloyd, noted a decline in the activities of illegal oil refineries popularly called “kpofire”.
Lloyd, who was the keynote speaker, said the decline followed the marching order given by the state governor, Nyesom Wike, to the 23 council chairmen to curb the “kpofire” menace.
He decried the indiscriminate and disturbing involvement of security agencies in the kpofire business, alleging that some law enforcement agents lobby to be posted to Rivers State because of artisanal refining activities.
The Emohua council boss said it was unheard of, that a security agent, who was saddled with the responsibility for fighting vandalism, eventually turned to be a vandal.
Also, Ken Henshaw decried the disturbing scourge of soot which has reduced the life span of people living in the state, particularly in Ogoniland where environmental pollution was of high magnitude.
Henshaw stated: “More recently, the government of Rivers State set up a committee to look into soot scourge. And it noticed that that soot has increased respiratory and cancer cases in Rivers State. And the report of the committee said there were over 27,000 cases of respiratory illness in five years in Rivers State traceable to hydrocarbon soot.
“The soot specifically comes as a formal compounding of the problems of an already devastated ecology of Niger Delta region.
“For 64 years, this region (Niger Delta) has come under profound environmental pollution and environmental attacks.
“In Niger Delta region, a new phenomenon has emerged and it is the artisanal refinery. This has not only devastated the region, but has compounded the ecological disaster we had to endure for 64 years. It is because of this new phenomenon, artisanal refinery that we began to see this soot.”
He, however, noted that the artisanal refining activities ravaging Niger Delta has become a multi-million naira business involving not only people from the region.
Similarly, Prof. Sofiri Peterside said soot would soon be an ecological time bomb in Niger Delta region, noting collapse in community governance.
He stressed that the clamour for granting license to operators of illegal refineries should be discouraged and artisans should be addressed in a language they would understand, that they are mere mechanics.
Peterside declared: “Our community governance system has collapsed. It is a business (artisanal refinery) and a problem. That means the local government has to function optimally.
According to him, building of modular refineries would require professional and technological advancement, drawn from the skilful potentials of literate.
