112 Illegal Refinery Discovered In Rivers State Community
No fewer than 112 illegal refineries have been discovered in the creeks of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State.
Also, the state Governor, Nyesom Wike has said that the officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were deeply involved in sabotaging government efforts in curbing the illegal trade.
The Chairman of the council, Samuel Nwanosike explained that about 99 per cent of the cooking sites were located in Ogbodo community hosting about 17 Shell lines.
Nwanosike said: “We have identified over 112 cooking sites. About 99 per cent of them are located in one community called Ogbodo close to about 17 Shell lines. We are taking it head-on.”
The chairman said that there was no going back until all results were achieved stressing that the council would never allow it to happen again.
The discovery, followed a call by the state governor to provide financial assistance to local government chairmen to enable them destroy all illegal refineries within their domains.
He added that illegal refineries activities constituted environmental hazard capable of causing cancer-related illnesses in the state.
Wike said that officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had continued to be complicit in the act and shamelessly be involved in sabotaging the national economy.⁰
He said: “I don’t know how I can be a security officer sent to a place to protect people, to protect whatsoever belongs to the Federal Government, at the same time, I’m involved in sabotaging the national economy.
“I don’t understand how I can wear uniform and be involved in that. If they do not want to support us, we have no choice but to expose all the atrocities that is going on in this State.”
Meanwhile, the governor has urged traditional rulers in the state to force out operators of illegal refineries from their domains, noting that those involved in illegal refineries were sabotaging the national economy.
Wike said: “I should think that the way federal government intends to fight insurgency, is the way they should fight illegal oil bunkering, because it is a sabotage on the national economy. Very big sabotage. It affects our own revenue.
“It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to see how this thing can be stopped. As I speak to you, nobody has called me from the Federal Government to say how they can support us. But that is not my business. My business is the health of my people. I will not because the federal government is not interested to stop it, therefore my people should die. If everybody dies, who are you going to govern.”
Wike advised the traditional rulers not to be less concerned about the activities of illegal oil refinery operators, but to frantically mobilise members of their Community Development Committees (CDC) and the leadership of their youth groups to work in synergy to dislodge them from their domain.