Use Abacha loot to develop oil-producing communities’

An Environmentalist, Sheriff Mulade, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to use the recovered $308 million Abacha’s loots to develop the neglected oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region.

Addressing journalists, Sunday, in Abuja, Mulade also said the money should be channelled to developing environmental-hazard prone communities across the federation, especially core states like Delta, Bayelsa and River. 

“The recovered funds were proceeds from oil exploration activities from the oil and gas areas like Akwa Ibom, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers during the General Abacha era. So, it should be used for human capital development in the region.” 

He further said that government should not repeat the same mistake of using the recovered funds for the construction of Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kano expressways, and second Niger Bridge, adding, this is an act of injustice to the oil states.

Insisting that the loot be used for the construction of projects, Mulade, who is the National Coordinator, Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), maintained that this will create employment, and engage the youths in the construction of roads and bridges linking the coastal communities of the region.

His words: “If the fund is used for the infrastructural and human capital development of the oil bearing communities, it will boost the marine economic growth and help alleviate poverty from the coastal communities.” 

He therefore appealed to President Buhari not to allocate or share the fund to any developmental agency in the Niger Delta region, rather the Federal Government should apply them directly to avoid corrupt practices.