Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People has charged President Muhammadu Buhari, to end activities of gas flaring in the Niger Delta region, particularly in Ogoniland, in order for a desirable result of the ongoing Ogoni clean-up project.
President of MOSOP in the United States, Elder DineBari Augustine Kpuinen, in a letter to President Buhari, regretted that gas flaring was the primary cause of climate change.
Kpuinen in the letter titled “The Appointment of an Ogoni and the Ogoni Clean-up,” demanded for the revalidation of the UNEP Report, a template used in the cleanup of Ogoniland in Rivers State.
He explained that since 2011, when the UNEP Report was submitted, the Ogoni environment has witnessed several other oil spills, which has damaged the area more than twice as contained in the Report.
“As a matter of urgency, MOSOP USA demands to stop all gas flaring in Ogoni and the Niger Delta area to achieve desirable results during the cleanup.
“Gas flaring is the primary cause of climate change and is identified as the silent killer of Niger Delta inhabitants.
“In 2011, the United Nations Environmental Program finalized a study of the Ogoni environment, submitted a report to the Federal Government, and classified it to demand urgent attention. Yet, 11 years after, nothing has been done. Not even one of its several recommendations has been satisfactorily implemented.
“The Report issued by the UNEP in 2011 on the Ogoni environment and the various tests conducted is now obsolete because they have only 10 years of lifespan. Illegal bunkering, fresh oil spillages, and pipe blowouts have devastated the area twice more than reported.
“In addition, black soot now rains in the area. Black soots are the poisonous, dangerous chemical that rains in Ogoni and the Niger Delta. These black soots cause internal bleeding, which is one of the fundamental reasons Ogoni people die more.
“The increased death rate in Ogoni is because of more deadly diseases and infections traceable to the drinking of infected hydrocarbon water, eating poisonous acid infected vegetations and crops, and breathing polluted air.
“The recent oil spills in our rivers, creeks, swamps, and sea; and the illegal manual refineries make the UNEP Report of 2011 obsolete. Ogoniland desires to be thoroughly and promptly reassessed.”
The apex Ogoni group further called on President Buhari to invite the UNEP for the second reassessment of Ogoni, saying that the cleanup of Ogoniland was far more critical now and should be given the attention it deserves.
“Your push for the return of oil production in Ogoni through NNPC in violation of the UNEP guidelines is unacceptable. The pollution in Ogoni is real and has negatively impacted the lives of our people in every way, hence your timely intervention.
“So far, and on your watch, an estimated $360 million have been spent on the so-called cleanup in Ogoni with nothing to show for it. While on the other hand, BP has spent an estimated $71 billion on cleanup and compensation for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico over 10 years ago.”
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