A non-governmental organization, called We the People, has expressed worry over what it termed a rising health hazard in Egi community, Rivers State, which it claims is due to decades of exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in the region. This was contained in a statement issued via their Facebook page on Wednesday.
The NGO, along with the People’s Health Collective, aired its worries in a community discussion with community members who spoke out on health issues that they claim are caused by pollution from oil and natural gas production in the area.
The event took place under a tree in the community, with parents, women, elderly people, and health professionals attending and sharing stories of illness and medical issues that have emerged in recent times. Parents noted that many children suffer from skin diseases, including rashes and infections.
Another concern raised by a local midwife was her fear about the rising number of deaths and weak births of babies, where some babies have been born with low birth weight and are always falling ill even though their mothers attend antenatal care.
Some residents reported an increase in the number of cases of blindness and poor eyesight, in addition to fertility issues faced by some men and women. Another concern mentioned was the reduced ability to reproduce by livestock.
Some others discussed how they suffered from chronic headaches and unusual fatigue in youth in addition to high blood pressure that cannot be managed by drugs and anxiety due to the environmental factors of the place.
One resident was overwhelmed with anger when he complained about how difficult it has become for him to live in the polluted environment, saying “the air makes us sick”.
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Residents highlighted that majority of health problems started after the extraction of oil and gas resources became rampant.
Specifically, they cited gas flaring operations conducted in recent decades by a French energy company, TotalEnergies.
The organisation stated that although there have been many instances of environmental destruction within the Niger Delta region in the past years, there has been no attempt to establish how much the pollution is affecting the health of the community members living in the area.
The NGO emphasized the importance of conducting medical and environmental tests urgently to find out the level of harm caused by pollution in the air and water.
The statement issued also encouraged Niger Delta community members to stand together and demand justice from multinational oil companies, particularly since these companies are still pursuing divestment initiatives from the Niger Delta area.
However, the organization believes that the Niger Delta region, which has undergone the pain of oil drilling operations for several decades, must not be left unattended in terms of health and environmental destruction issues.
