NEWS
Communities Cry out over Massive Oil Spill Neglect
From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
The people of the coastal communities of Odimodi, Beneboye and Isiayeigbene in Iduwini Clan of Burutu Local Government area of Delta State have called on Brittania-U to take responsibility for the crude oil spill which occurred on the coastline line on the July 18, 2024.
The communities said the spill was caused by a fire incident that gutted one of the company’s vessels ferrying crude oil products.
Recall that the communities had reported a massive oil pollution ravaging the Forcados area, which affected the Odimodi, Beneboye, Isiayeigbene and Okuntu community coastline in July.
According to separate reports from the communities, the crude oil spill was caused by a fire incident which happened on a Floating Production Storage and Offloading Facility owned by Brittina-U Nigeria Limited, at Ajakpa Field, OML 90.
This was made known by the communities during a People’s Assembly Action organized by Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF) in the respective affected communities, as part of the lineup of activities towards the African People’s Counter COP (APCC) which is supported by the Africa Climate Justice Collective (ACJC) aimed at exposing the oil spill crisis caused by Brittania-U in the affected communities.
While speaking to the respective communities, Executive Director of CODAF, Richard Benin stated that the domestic and international oil exploration companies in the Niger Delta region have continued to pollute the environment because they are aware of the inability of the communities to speak together in one voice, to demand accountability from the companies and the government who are key beneficiaries of oil extraction, while the common folks are left to bear the brunt of degraded environments.
According to him, CODAF and other affiliate organizations in Nigeria, Africa and the world can only act on these reports if the communities can be united to speak about their challenges and tell the world about their stories of hunger, poverty, health challenges and neglect, despite their status as an oil rich region.
The people of the communities lamented that despite the grave health damages, environmental and air pollution caused by the spill, neither the company, NOSDRA or any other agency have visited the communities to ascertain the level of damages caused by the spill and how the fishing and farming folks have survived in the face of their degraded environment and the destruction of livelihood.
According to the Beneboye community representative, “We woke up in the night and saw fire in the sea. The company vessel was burning; we called our landlords in Odimodi to report the issue. At about 12 midnight, the smell of crude was everywhere. It affected everybody in the community. We could not breathe, our children were coughing and when we woke up in the morning, the crude from the burning vessel had washed onto our land”.
“There was nowhere to walk. Everywhere had been polluted with crude oil and all the people who went fishing the next day came back empty handed. They could not pull out their nets because they were soaked with crude. The crude spread from the sea into the creeks and destroyed our land. Even the palm fruits we used to cook before, we can’t use them anymore because they are contaminated”.
“When we eat it now, it gives us a cough. We have suffered different kinds of sickness since then. We have been through a lot since that spill happened in July. That is how we have been suffering since then. We have evidence of some of the crude we collected from the spill.
According to Beauty Omaseye: “When we heard you people were coming, we were happy. We thought the company had finally heard our cry. Since that Brittania- U spill happened, all my husband’s nets were destroyed by the spill. I borrowed money to help my husband buy a net, yet no fish in the sea to catch”.
“I am in debt now, my children are hungry. All my farms have been destroyed. Schools have resumed for the past 3 weeks but we don’t have money to send them back to school. Brittania-U should have mercy on us”.
Meanwhile, as part of efforts towards mitigating the impacts of climate change, environmental pollution and remediation, CODAF inaugurated the “A Million Tree School Club Project” in Odimodi Secondary School, Odimodi”.
The inauguration was done to commission a young generation of environmentally conscious youth, educating them on the importance of tree planting, its effect on climate change and the need for environmental restoration, especially among oil producing communities.
The Federal Government has revoked a section of the Abuja-Kaduna highway contract being handled by Julius Berger over irregularities.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, made this known during the inauguration of the rehabilitation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road on Thursday in Abuja.
Umahi said that the road contract was awarded to Julius Berger in 2018 under former President Muhammadu Buhari for N391 billion.
The minister said that the Kaduna-Zaria section has been completed and the Zaria-Kano section is almost completed, however, the Abuja-Kaduna section has witnessed slow completion rate in six years.
“We inherited about 240km in the section I and we extended another two kilometres towards Kogi state to repair the road because it is an eye saw.
“So we have additional 7.5km added to the original 750km, the cost that we gave to Julius Berger for this section is N349 billion or N2.03 billion per kilometer and it is on flexible pavement.
“The section one is 38km or 76 single carriageways when you multiply it by two.”
According to Umahi, the cost is N145 billion or N1.9 billion per kilometer adding that the section one and three are being done under tax credit.
He said that the road project needed to be divided into three sections because Julius Berger was demanding a total of 1.5 trillion for the entire road project to be completed in four years.
“However, we do not want that, president Bola Tinubu does not want that, so we predicted the option of balkanising the road into three, which we have done, and he approved it.
“When we did that by writing, Julius Berger accepted it with the rates but we did not know that they would play games by continuing to play delayed tactics.
“At that time, their own section was 710 billion, both what was done and the new thing to be done,so they started in the first section.”
He said that the Ministry of Finance promised to be paying N20 billion every month to get the job done, but Julius Berger asked for an increase which the ministry obliged from N710 to N740 billion.
Umahi said Julius Berger again wrote to the ministry last week asking for a raise from N740 to N903 billion to complete the project, a condition not favourable to the government.
“We decided to go for about four billion naira per kilometer for an existing road we are rehabilitating on asphalt, so our position is that we are not increasing this contract for Julius Berger beyond N740 billion.
“This game must be over. I have invited them for a meeting tomorrow. We cannot do what they want. They have been pushing us around. In Bodo Boni, they got what they wanted.
“They have put the project into politics. So they are using it to demarcate our administration and we think enough should be enough,”he said
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport , Adamu Aliero, commended the President for taking the bold initiative in approving the revocation of the contract and re-awarding it to competent contractors.
Aliero said that the Abuja-Kaduna road has been a thorny issue as far back as 2021, 2022, 2023.
“The governors, the senators, front-line politicians have been complaining on the slow pace of this road. They have been talking about how many people have died because of the deplorable condition of the road.
“Let me say that there is no road in Northern Nigeria that is as important as this road but Julius Berger kept bringing all kinds of excuses.
“This road is a vital link. It connects the northeast, northwest, southeast, south-south, and southwest, the road is very important, it is a national asset.”
Aliero therefore, urged the contractors that have won the award to please speed up and complete the road to ease movement of goods and services to every part of Nigeria.
He also appealed to Julius Berger to restore the confidence Nigerians have in them by completing other section of the road contract they are handling that has not been revoked.(NAN)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has accused Israel of barring medical specialists from entering Gaza to support clinics in the besieged enclave.
The WHO said since August, eight organisations and over 50 specialised personnel had been affected by Israel’s blockade.
The specialists were intended to provide crucial support for various medical services, as well as psychological support for healthcare workers at facilities including the European Gaza Hospital and the Nasser Hospital, the WHO said.
It was reported that among the organisations denied entry was the U.S.non-profit Palestinian American Medical Association, which supports Palestinians in need of medical care.
According to the WHO, this marks the first instance in which Israel has denied entire organisations the ability to participate in relief efforts for the Gaza Strip.
The WHO reported that in the past week, support teams conducted 25 per cent fewer operations than usual.
With only 17 out of 36 clinics and 43 medical practices remaining partially operational, the WHO emphasised the irreplaceable role of these external teams in providing essential medical services.
The WHO called for full access for emergency aid teams. (dpa/NAN)
It is Germany’s responsibility to make sure that a war between Russia and Ukraine does not become a war between Russia and NATO, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
He said this as he repeated his “nein” to sending long-range weapons to Kiev.
“I don’t consider this to be a proper delivery and that’s how it will stay,” Scholz said after a European Union summit in Brussels.
Scholz rejected key points in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan” out of concerns of future escalation.
Zelensky presented his “victory plan” at the meeting and called on Scholz, again to send him Taurus cruise missiles.
The Ukrainian leader believes a deterrent missile arsenal could force Russia into peace negotiations.
Scholz also maintained his stance against a quick invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, as outlined in Zelensky’s plan.
The United States also opposes a fast-track NATO entry for Ukraine.
The chancellor referred to the resolutions of the most recent NATO summit in Washington, which offers Ukraine a general assurance that it could no longer be stopped on its way into the defence alliance.
He further said all allies must agree that NATO conditions are met for an invitation.
These include reforms in the areas of democracy, the economy and the security sector.
Scholz also used the occasion to take a swipe at his main opposition in the Bundestag or German parliament, Christian Democratic (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz.
He complained that Merz flip-flopped on Taurus deliveries, taking a no-delivery position before key elections in east Germany and changing his position after that. (dpa/NAN)
FG Revokes Section of Abuja-Kaduna Road Contract Handled by Julius Berger
Share The Federal Government has revoked a section of the Abuja-Kaduna highway contract being handled by Julius Berger over irregularities....
WHO Accuses Israel of Denying Medical Specialists’ Entry to Gaza
Share The World Health Organisation (WHO) has accused Israel of barring medical specialists from entering Gaza to support clinics in...
Germany must Ensure Ukraine War Does not Spread to NATO – Scholz
Share It is Germany’s responsibility to make sure that a war between Russia and Ukraine does not become a war...
Kebbi Govt Shuts Down College of Health Sciences Jega Indefinitely
Share The Kebbi Government has announced the closure of the College of Health Sciences and Technology, Jega, indefinitely following a...
Boundary Dispute: Delta Community Seeks FG’s Intervention to Avert Bloodshed
Share The Oleh community in Delta State has petitioned the Federal Government to wade into the land dispute between it...
NYSC Members Lack Nothing in Daura – Emir
Share The Emir of Daura, Alhaji Faruk Umar- Faruk, says National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members do not suffer anything...
Host Communities, Litigations Delay Trust Fund Implementation – HOSTCOM
Share The Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSTCOM) says some delays in Host Community Development Trust (HCDT)...
Nigerian Army Emphasises Responsible Social Media use for National Security
Share The Nigerian Army has stressed the importance of responsible social media usage in contributing to national security and development....
Defence Minister Lauds Troops in Kaduna
Share The Minister of Defence, Mohammad Badaru, said he will be visiting military formations in Kaduna State, including Birnin Gwari and...
CIBN, Sanwo-Olu, others Encourage Youth to Embrace Technology for Self-Development
ShareGov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has advised the youth in the state to actively embrace social media and technology...