Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC-Nigeria, says the Rivers State government would need to provide an alternative source of livelihood for the youths involved in artisanal crude oil refining, to ensure a permanent solution to soot in Port Harcourt and its environs.
Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said despite the clampdown on illegal oil bunkering activities by the government through Tompolo’s Pipeline Surveillance Contract, the issue of illegal refineries will not go away.
The environmentalist disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital while reacting to the disappearance of hydrocarbon soot in Port Harcourt.
Fyneface recalled the the Governor Nyesom Wike had early in 2022 declared war against artisanal refineries in the state, to among others mitigate its contributions to soot and stop pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft.
According to him, the war against artisanal refineries which was taken up by the local government council chairmen on the directive of Governor Wike succeeded in destroying some illegal refineries sites and displaced the youths involved for about three months before it was abandoned, paving the way for the youths to regroup and return to the illegal acts in some local government areas.
“The soot may resurface because illegal crude oil refining is still ongoing in some local government areas, despite the clampdown on illegal oil bunkering by the state and federal governments through the Tantita SSL/Tompolo pipeline surveillance contract.
“To sustain the clean air currently enjoyed in Port Harcourt and its environs, the government needs to legalize artisanal oil refining through the establishment of Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) to among others provide alternative livelihood opportunities for the youths and ensure a friendly environment free of soot.”
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