Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Ogoni Ex-Artisanal Refiners Forum has urged the government to train the ex-artisanal refiners and give them foreign scholarship employment in order to dissuade them from returning to their trade.
This is as the group has commenced its leadership sensitisation programme against re-pollution of the Ogoniland.
The group made this known in Bori, Khana Local government area of Rivers State, during a training program in collaboration with the National Youth Council of Ogoni People, with the theme, “Revenue Loss, Environmental Impact and Health Complication”, targeted at ending the menace of illegal refining activities in the area and encouraging healthy source of livelihood.
Chairman of the Ex-artisanal Refiners Forum, Teddy Ereba, charged those involved in illegal crude oil refining activities to urgently halt the menace.
“We called on all the ex-artisanal refiners in Ogoni, to tell them to stop the kporfire (artisanal refining) because HYPREP promised to be training our people if we stop the refining business.”
Also speaking, President, National Youth Council of Ogoni People, Mr Barinuazor Emmanuel, also urged the federal government to provide alternative means of livelihood for the youths so they will not return back to illegal refining of the nation’s resource.
“We are here today to sensitises our people. In the UNEP Report, there was a recommendation that captured that the youth of Ogoni involve in artisanal refiners should be given a livelihood and also engage them.
“Those were supposed to be part of the emergency measures that HYPREP ignored but the current leadership of HYPREP headed by Dr Ferdinand Giadom and the Minister for Environment has deem it fit that we should go back and start to talk to our people because Oil Theft is one of the most dangerous activities going on in the Niger Delta today.
“Oil theft comes with the issue of arms and drugs. So we the youths of Ogoni have decided that we are not going to indulge to illegal refining. We are going to work with HYPREP to ensure that anything illegal refining must stop in Ogoniland.
“NYCOP being the mother of all the youth bodies in Ogoni have been mandated to bring together all the ex-artisanal refiners in Ogoni to end Illegal refinery in Ogoni.
“We are also telling government that you cannot only be looking at the faces of those that carry gun, you have given the opportunity to Tompolo to handle the issue of pipeline and others. What we want is to secure our own pipeline because we need oil resumption back to Ogoniland.
“Since we have asked our youths to stop illegal refining, the way will be treating People that goes with gun, the ex-militants, the same treatment should be given to our youths because we want to secure our environment, so that our parents can go back to their farms and fishing. We are also asking federal government to ensure that Ogoni youth be given the best fair training in 2023.”
Similarly, Deputy secretary of MOSOP, Elvis Lebura, expressed concerns on how to forestall the re-pollution of the Ogoni environment after the HYPREP cleanup process have been concluded.
“We had continued in the advocacy through the support of the Minister and Project Coordinators of HYPREP. This programme intends to dissuade the ex-artisanal refiners from going back to the creeks, it will enlighten them.
“What we have achieved here today is that they have been enlightened of not just the impact of what has happened to the revenue profile of the country, of course the economy. But again on their health, they ignored the health implications. We let them know that is as good as commiting suicide when all you are labouring for, you may not be alive enjoy it because of the health implication.”
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