•Governor Sheriff Oborevwori
Residents of Ukwu-Nzu community in Aniocha North Local Council of Delta State, have raised the alarm over the reported alleged water pollution of their two rivers- Odo and Ojokpa, by Mosra Energy Coal miner.
They are calling on the state governor, Sheriff Oborevwori to act swiftly to halt the mining activities to avoid calamity, reports The Guardian.
No fewer than 500 persons have contracted cholera following the alleged pollution of the water.
They lamented that they have been deprived of potable water as that is their only source of water for drinks or other domestic uses.
Conducted round the Rivers for on the spot assessment of the effects of the pollution, yesterday, spokesman of the community, Mr. Kaikenechukwu Okolie,said,
“Our people are afraid of using the water because there may be an outbreak of epidemic. So, we are begging government to come to our aid before people will start dying.”
“Nobody is against the coal mining in our neighbouring community, but we are only concerned about the pollution. Our people cannot use the water to process cassava and other domestic uses because of the pollution.
“The river is badly affected. You can see the river is muddy and reddish. The river cannot inhabit aquatic activity now, and the vegetation at the bank of the river is dying by the day.”
He said the community was facing the challenges in the past two months, but nothing was done about it. He continued, “We have been making frantic efforts to reach out to the government through the Commissioner for Environment and the Chairman of Aniocha North council but nobody is ready to help us.
“We also reached out to the coal mining company, Mosra Energy and the management visited the rivers but till now, we have not heard from them over two months”, he lamented.
But Mosra Energy General Manager, Human Resources and General Services, Mr. Ahed Alli, swiftly dismissed the allegations with the wave of the hands, saying, “Our Coal mining activities don’t generate any wastage that can cause any contamination”.
According to him, “In the process of mining we do what is called overhauling removal which is to remove the top soil, then, stockpile, and thereafter we go for extraction to bring back the land to normalcy.”
For the water colouration, Alli explained that the compilation of sound erosion is channeled through the drainage, and systematically wash off by the water into the river, which he claims, did not in any way affect the river but the bank of the river where the vegetation is.”
When contacted on the issue, Commissioner for Environment, Mr Jamani Ejiro said, “I got information about the activities of the coal mining last year. “However, we will visit the site next week to get first hand information because government is to protest the people, so we will not want somebody to destroy our environment or waterway.
“We will soon go into action now we are reliably informed that there is water pollution in the community to save life”, he added.
