By Our Correspondent
Niger Delta communities have been advised to give maximum supports to security agencies in their onslaught against illegal bunkering and oil theft so as to save the environment from further damage.
National Coordinator, Center for Peace and Environmental Justice, CEPEJ, a Non-Governmental Organization, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, who gave the advice on Tuesday in Warri, said backing the security agencies to wipe out illegal bunkering would ensure reduction in the environmental degradation of the region.
Mulade, an environmental activist, talked about the depletion in aquatic life and gradual erosion of coastal communities, stressing that not only is the degradation causing the lost of marine and coastal resources, but it holds huge economic problems.
His words: ‘’To say that the Niger Delta environment has been destroyed because of spills is merely restating the obvious. The people, especially in coastal communities have been left in quandary as their major occupations; mainly fishing and farming have been eroded. While farmlands have been rendered infertile, rivers and seas have lost valuable fish stock. Illegal bunkering and oil theft are killing our environment and the consequences are tremendous’’.
Specifically, he called on traditional rulers and community leaders to educate their people on the dangers of contaminating the environment by spills occasioned by illegal bunkering, describing the illicit deal as economic sabotage.
Comrade Mulade also advised the monarchs not to give traditional titles to questionable characters and those with ill gotten wealth apparently from illegal bunkering and oil theft.
‘’It is instructive to note that the environment is our heritage as such it should be protected and preserved for future generation. The devastation of the environment by illegal bunkering calls for urgent measures to restored it to its pristine nature’’, he added.
He warned that neither the International Oil Companies nor the federal government has any emergency response plan for cleaning up of oil spill sites or regeneration of devastated lands, as such communities should not allow their environment to be destroyed because of pecuniary gains.
Describing the incessant spillages as constituting a nuisance to both the environment and humans, Comrade Mulade noted that the devastation of the environment may likely transform to serious health crises in the region if urgent steps are not taken to address the issue.
He urged the government to create an efficient environmental regulation framework to check the abuse of the environment by corporate bodies and individuals, underlining that ‘’there shouldn’t be sacred cows.’’
