Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Henry Seriake Dickson, has said that there was no justification for operating illegal refineries, which further degrade and pollute the already compromised Niger Delta environment.
To this end, the governor said plans were underway by the state government to set up a task force to check the activities of illegal crude oil refineries to protect the Bayelsa environment.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Francis Agbo, said the governor who disclosed these in Yenagoa, decried the establishment of illegal refineries in the state which he noted degrade the environment and destroy lives.
Governor Dickson disclosed that his administration had engaged the services of internationally acclaimed forensic experts to compile the effects of prolonged oil pollution on the environment and health of the people in the state.
The governor who called for collective efforts to reclaim the environment observed that decades of oil pollution and gas flaring in the state and the Niger Delta have resulted in rising cases of health hazards, thereby shortening the lifespan of the people.
“The Niger Delta Environment has been under severe, sustained and brutal attack by forces that they do not control. They have not only invaded the land and expropriated their property but are now threatening to exterminate the people.
“A lot of actions would be taken and we will mobilise local and international opinions on this. There are legislative measures that I will also call on the State Assembly to undertake.
“A time that your environment is a ticking time bomb is not the time to resort more or less to what we may call, some element of self-help by breaking into pipelines and making sure that more pollution takes place. All of us should be soldiers for the protection of the environment.”
The governor also lamented the exclusion of people from the Niger Delta region in the oil and gas industry.
