Tina Amanda
An appeal has gone to the federal government to examine the executive bill before the National Assembly seeking to give possession of all river banks across the country to the control of the federal government.
President Niger Delta Coalition Against Violence, Comerade Lekia Christian, who stated this in Port Harcourt to newsmen, said the bill when passed into law will deny people of the south their river banks as well make them lose more than they have lost over the years.
According to him, the bill will also pose a threat to the livelihood of the people in the south as their ecosystem will be disposed off them.
“We want to call on the government to reconsider its position on that bill with the view of protecting the lives of Niger Deltan’s and others.
“In Bayelsa, the Ijaw communities live by the river banks and if these people who have lived there over the years are disposed of their ancestral homes, where will they go to?
“Parochial interest should not make the government drive an agenda that would be counter-productive and destructive to its very own people.
” The responsibility of government is to protect the lives and property of its people. We should not do things that would further endanger this region.
“We have suffered enough as a region and we contributed so much to the power of our vote to put this government in place. When president Buhari mentioned in his campaign, that he will clean up Ogoni land, some of us were very happy, they should stop politicizing the crisis and plight of our people”
Speaking further on the activities of some military operatives in the Niger Delta, Comrade lekia said the military should adopt a friendly scientific approach in destroying illegal petroleum products rather than causing more problems to the environment.
“The crude can be sent back to NNPC rather than destroy it because the spill returns to the rivers and it kills the aquatic life, makes the environment hazardous. We have suffered greatly as a result of military activities associated with agitation for environmental rights”
He urged the federal government to do the needful and ensure the safety of lives and property in the Niger Delta as this will engender a conducive environment.
