The Delta State Government has assured indigenes of oil-rich Polobubo (Tsekelewu) community in Warri North council area of its commitment to finding lasting solutions to their environmental, health and socio-economic demands.
Deputy Governor Kingsley Otuaro, who gave the assurances while addressing protesters from the community at the Gates of the Government House (Annex) Warri, also assured government would put together a visiting team, in conjunction with Chevron Nigeria Limited, the operators of the burning oil-well head, to the community by Tuesday to proffer solutions.
He was drawn by the massive, placard wielding protesters, who braved the heavy downpours, forcing him to stop his convoy to attend to the protesters.
They were led by community leaders including the National President of Polobubo (Tsekelewu) National Council (PNC), Mr. Ebilate Mac-Yoroki; Chief Mathew E. O. Tiemo the Secretary of PNC, Mr. Midwest Kukuru; and Hon. Dickson Asoki.
The community, in a position paper presented by Mac-Yoroki, lamented the dire situation the well-head fire had subjected the health of the people and their environment to.
He lamented the lack of concern or empathy by the company operating the facility, adding the community had fallen under serious health and environmental threats because the water and air had been contaminated by oil, gas and black soot.
According to him, the fire from the well-head worsened since Monday, releasing a huge cloud of smoke over the community, which has been raining gas, oil and black soot on the community and causing serious health and environmental concerns as well as hunger and lack of water.
He said: “The spewing substance, which we have every reason to believe to be crude oil and gas, is clouding above the whole community and coming down like rain or dew.
“Since this is what we have been having to inhale, we have cause to believe that it is the reason that many of our children are currently sick, running high temperature every night, we have even had many cases of convulsion as well as loss of blood. Besides that, everything kept outside is not safe, including our drinking water.
“Having said that, we wish to make a number of demands from Chevron to ameliorate the situation that this disaster has forced us into:
“We need Chevron to immediately stop this fire and the gas and smoke emission. The company should immediately send qualified medical doctors to start attending to all the sick and weak in the community, we don’t need to die before they will believe that their activities are seriously affecting us adversely.
“ We need clean potable water urgently because even the ones we currently drink have been polluted from their sources. We urgently need all sorts of food stuffs because we no longer have access to our main source of livelihood; fishing, which is also our main source of food. Hunger is worsening in the community.
“We need Chevron to, with immediate effect, embark on a process of cleaning the waters within and surrounding the community immediately. This is because they provide life for seafood.
“It is still the only means of recreation for our children but as it is currently polluted by crude oil and gas, we can’t fish, just as our children cannot swim in it. It is almost a ‘concentration camp’ experience for us currently.
“We are a community of peaceful and hardworking people but besides the fact that Chevron has refused to give our people jobs, the natural environment that ought to have been their source of livelihood has been taken away from them by the activities of the company.
“In the light of this, we demand that Chevron pays compensation to every member of Polobubou.”
Responding, the deputy governor said: “We are not unaware that there is a raging fire like you put it, close to Polobubo community in Egbema Kingdom.
“We are also aware that Chevron is also making some frantic efforts towards getting that fire off. We are also not unawares that it is trending on social media, national dailies and in the broadcast media, about the attendant challenges to the fire.
“You have made a subtle request that you wish the Delta state government to pay an on-the-spot assessment visit to Polobubo and its environs and see what is happening, with a view to attending to the issues that you have raised in this paper before us.
“I want to assure you that the Delta state government, led by Sen. Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, is a responsive government; a government that responds to the yearnings of its people and just like you have said, there is an issue and I want to say that between now and Tuesday next week, we will send a high power Delta state government team, possibly in collaboration with Chevron Nigeria Limited, to see, first hand, what the issues are, with a view to addressing some of them”.
President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Barr. Eric Omare, described the ongoing events in Polobubo community as “environmental genocide”, adding Chevron Nigeria Limited would not dare allow fire to rage on for close to two month in its home country in the US.
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