Members of Amonogo-Biri community in Okrika Council of Rivers State have bemoaned the deplorable state of their environment, following pollutions unattended to by both government and multinationals.

Community members, while recounting their experiences from what they described as hostile relationship with oil companies situated in their domains, said the activities of the companies have dealt a huge blow on their means of livelihood, which is fishing.

They expressed their displeasure at a one-day capacity-building workshop on using policy advocacy to tackle environmental pollution, hosted by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF).

Participants at the training alleged that chemical waste from Port Harcourt Refinery and Indorama company are washed into the river, leading to the death of many aquatic animals.

A participant, Fynface Agukabo, told the The Guardian that fishermen had protested against the release of chemical into the rivers but were met with brute resistance.

He stated: “Everybody is suffering from this pollution and gas flaring. All over the community, when we wash our clothes and dry them, we usually see black soot on them; even in our drinking water, we see black particles from flames floating in them. We perceive harsh chemical and we have nobody to tell them to stop all these things.

“This pollution has affected the fish we catch. If we present the fish for sale, nobody wants to buy them because of the oily skin.

Another participant, Tari Lawrence, said: “We have had issues of oil spill in Ekerekana, where refinery company release waste water into our rivers. And when these waste are released, wind will spread a strong chemical smell across the community.

“Like Indorama, they always pour the Amonia chemical and once it is done, all the fishes from where the company is down our community will die.
“I am very glad concerning what happened today, because we have been suffering all this while. As fishermen, we have suffered pollution from these multinational companies and when we lodge complaints to our rulers, they keep calm and do nothing.”

Executive Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, noted that it was a big embarrassment that government at all levels in the area do not show any sign of concern for the people and the environment.

He said It is completely unacceptable that when communities complain about their deplorable environment, they will be chased away without even being listened to.

He, however, noted that the capacity building programme will help them be able to identify the environmental challenges, identify the sources and formulate ways of tackling it, especially using policy advocacies.