Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have blamed artisanal refinery business, illegal oil bunkering and the concomitant fire explosions and deaths, on failure of the government to meaningfully engage the youths, tackle poverty and protect oil facilities in the region.
The stakeholders who particularly decried the artisanal refinery fire explosion in Abacheke, which claimed over 200 lives last weekend in Imo and Rivers States, said poverty in the region have been compounded by the ecological devastation which has accompanied almost 70 years of irresponsible oil extraction.
A communique jointly signed by various CSOs and environmentalists, including Rev Nnimmo Bassey of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Emem Okon of Kebetkache, Chima Williams of ERA, Auwal Musa of CISLAC and seven others, expressed concerns over incessant oil fire explosions in Niger Delta which affect lives, livelihoods and the environment.
According to them, government at the state and federal levels have consistently failed to diligently examine the key factors that drive the proliferation of artisanal refineries despite the exposure of their operators to fatalities.
They explained that between 1998 and 2022, the region has witnessed thousands of oil fires which claimed the lives of thousands of youths, as the region in the last three years has witnessed worsening ecological disasters due to illegal artisanal refineries, such as the October 2021 Rumuekpe incident which claimed 25lives, and recently five deaths in the Bonny-Bille-Nembe jetty explosion weeks ago.
“Artisanal refineries have grown and expanded principally because government has failed in its responsibilities to provide meaningful engagement for the people, adequately address the prevailing poverty and protect the network of oil installations in the Niger Delta region.
“It is noteworthy that the two states affected in this latest artisanal refinery explosion incident- Imo and Rivers- rank among the highest in unemployment in Nigeria according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
“It is also important to note that benefit transfer schemes established by successive governments to address the endemic unemployment and poverty in the region, including the 13% derivation policy, the Niger Delta Development Commission, etc., have all failed to address the economic challenges the people of the region face.
“A point in reference is the open and endemic corruption which continues to plague the Niger Delta Development Commission.The poverty in the region have been compounded by the ecological devastation which has accompanied almost 70 years of ruthless and mindless oil extraction.
“The millions of barrels of crude oil routinely spilled into the rivers, swamps and lands of the region, and the constant flaring of associated gas have rendered the lands, forests, and rivers unproductive, making traditional income generating vocations of the people unviable.”
The stakeholders charged the government to take steps to stop the spate of illegal artisanal refineries in the region, while urging the governiemnt to see it as a new opportunity to further entrench the militarization of the region and abuse community rights.
“It is also important to mention that irrefutable evidence points to the active complicity of law enforcement officers in establishing and running artisanal refineries and by extension oil theft and the so-called third-party interferences.
“Some law enforcement officers do not only grant operational permits for artisanal refiners to operate freely for a fee, but they are also known to facilitate all aspects of the operations, and in some instances, own and operate their own artisanal refineries.
“While we recognize that the recourse to artisanal refining of petroleum products for sale in the local market is a desperate response to the poverty and destitution in the region as well as non-functional refineries, we nonetheless condemn it, especially as it is fast becoming a key cause of death among youths in the region; and a major source of pollution.
“We however call on the government to go beyond the usual military response it always prefers in the Niger Delta, and immediately address other factor that makes risking death by roasting seem like the best available survival alternative for the people of the Niger Delta.”
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