Chris Awhawha
A Non-governmental organization, Stakeholders Alliance for Corporate Accountability (SACA), has organized an enlightenment programme for Paramount rulers and other community leaders drawn from 72 communities across Bayelsa state in a bid to intensify its campaign against oil spillages in the Niger Delta region.
The programme tagged, “Action Reflection On Impacts of Oil Spillages and Human Rights” is aimed at bringing community leaders in the State to reflect and share actions they are taking to reduce crude oil spillages and its associated risks to the environment and human in their various communities.
In his opening remarks, Executive Director of SACA, Mr Kingsley Ozegbe said the rationale behind the event was to further take the engagement on the dangers of oil spills to the rural communities through the leaders, stressing that as custodians of their communities, they can in turn educate and enlighten their people.
Ozegbe explained that the programme is organized as part of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) which is an instrument that consist of 31 principles that the UN adopted to Protect the rights of citizens, hold all companies and government to account to Respect and Remedy human rights abuses/violations as they conduct their businesses.
He expressed regrets that available data indicated that a large percentage of spillages in the Niger Delta region were caused by individual and groups interfering with oil facilities, thereby posing serious harm to the environment and people in communities, while cautioning against third party interference on oil and gas installations.
The SACA boss informed that continuous exposure to crude oil spills causes miscarriage, still birth, deforms children among several neonatal challenges, adding that clinical investigation in Rivers State on persons directly involved in unregulated processing of crude oil, transporting and selling of the products in local communities showed that they have traces of petroleum in their urine and blood, thus, increasing the likelihood of high incidence of cancer in people.
In a presentation tagged, Impact of crude oil spill on Environment, health, food security and food safety’, key resource person, Dr Briggs Bieye Renner of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital (UPTH), Rivers State re-emphasized the negative impacts of oil spills.
Dr Briggs advised community leaders to be at the forefront of the fight against Environmental justice, and called on communities affected by crude oil pollution to urge individuals and oil companies to stop further pollution and demand for remediation of all crude oil impacted sites before the multinational companies which have already begun divesting their onshore assets conclude the processes involved in it.
Majority of the Royal Fathers said they were helpless as far as oil spillages were concerned, as the same security agencies protecting the oil facilities use security men to transport these products to suppliers and again if they attempt to report illegal activities, their boys may go after them.
They further accused federal government of being responsible, once these petroleum products were made available at affordable price, nobody will venture into ‘ Kpofire’ .
“ Unless there is employment opportunities, the youths will not be engaged in pipeline vandalism and illegal refineries. Since the prices of illegal refined products is within their reach they will continue to patronize them, thereby increasing the spate of oil spillages, not minding the negative effects on their environment and their health”
They pleaded with governments to provide employments for the teeming unemployed youths of Niger Delta Region as the panacea to oil spillages, which was also the view of spillage contractors .