By Goodluck Ikiebe.
The Senate has challenged the Federal government to join hands with the administration of Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, to stop the menace of soot and activities of illegal refiners in Rivers State.
The Senate urged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency support the state to overcome this twin-headed debacle in a motion sponsored by eight senators.
Entitled:’ Curbing Soot’s Particulates droppings, health Hazards concern and economic sabotage by illegal refining of crude products in Rivers State’, the Senate in the resolution from the motion sponsored by Senator George Thompson Sekibo and seven others who include: Senator James Manager, Senator Enyinaya, Abaribe, Senator Betty Apiafi, Senator Barry Mpigi, Senator Bassey Gershom, Senator Bassey Albert, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi and Senator Sandy Onor, asked the Federal government to immediately do the needful and avert an impending environmental danger that is occurring in Rivers State and its environs orchestrated by miscreants, who are engaged in illegal refining as well as looting national crude oil assets.
In the resolution, the Senate called on President Muhammadu Buhari to audit security agencies who are saddled with the responsibility of securing these assets but are suspected to be involved in the national sabotage and be sanctioned appropriately by the laws of the country.
It further advised the President to use his constitutional power to support the Government of Rivers State, who have started to combat these criminal activities and fish out these national economic saboteurs.
Other resolutions approved in the motion are mandating the Senate Committees on the Navy, Police Force, Interior and Army to carry out holistic investigation of these illegal activities with a view to ascertaining the involvement of security agencies collaborating and abetting in these bastard acts and report within four weeks.
“The Senate further directed the Committees on Environment, Petroleum Upstream and Primary Health to visit Rivers State and carryout observatory assessment of the level of damage these activities have caused the environment and the health concern the activities have occasioned as well as suggest solution and report within four weeks.
Senator Sekibo, who represents, Rivers East Senatorial District , still in the debate of the general principles of the motion, noted that the droppings of unidentifiable sooty particulates in Rivers State, which are suspected to be after-effects of incomplete crude refining process have taken a more dangerous dimension.
He expressed concern that since “Oil and Gas exploration and exploitation activities started in Rivers State and its environs since the discovery of hydrocarbons in the Niger Delta region in 1957, the environment; including land, water and air have already been grievously polluted through the activities of the multinational companies.
According to him, an environmental audit due to the degradation of the environment has never been carried out since the commencement of the exploration and exploitation activities in the area over 60 years ago, meaning that the contaminated environment remains without the hope of remediation.
Sekibo, who is the Rivers State Caucus Parliamentary Leader in NASS, explained that “the sooty particulate substances dropping in the State is becoming too visible that one cannot stay outdoors without receiving drops of them on his body.
He said it has become more worrisome that soot are now seeing on bedspreads in bedrooms, worktops in kitchens, chairs and other materials in houses, meaning that they are entering through every available crevice into inner spaces of buildings as the wind carries them.
Mr Sekibo noted that they are also concerned that residents in Rivers State have noticed lots of these sooty particulates settling in their nasal tracts which has occasioned cleaning of their nostril several times in the day.
Sekibo further explained that “the amount of these particulates being inhaled daily by Nigerians resident in the State cannot be estimated just as the after-effects of their inhalation have not been determined.
“The issue of clean environment is one of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy of the Nigerian State as provided in Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which states inter alia: The State shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air and land, forest and wild life of Nigeria.
“The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), within the context of its Social Order in Section 17(2)(d) has admonished that exploitation of natural resources to the detriment of the citizens shall be prevented as shown below;
17(2)(d) exploitation of human or natural resources in any form whatsoever for reasons, other than the good of the community, shall be prevented;
Recall that in order to forestall this type of emergency or occurrence and other hazardous pollution that may occasion due to the Oil and Gas exploitation activities, the Federal Government set up the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in 2006 with the following three cardinal objectives among others as provided in Section 5(a, b and c) in its enabling Act;
