A former President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Engr. Udengs Eredari has asked the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to move with caution on his vow to treat illegal oil bunkers like terrorists so as to avoid the Zamfara State scenario in the State.
Wike had vowed to wield the big stick against the illegal refineries operators in the State, accusing them of polluting the air in the State, thus endangering the lives of the people. Rivers State’s environment has been dangerously polluted and houses enveloped in soot.
To protect lives, Wike asked the Commissioner of Police to collaborate with other Security Agencies, Council Chairmen and Traditional Rulers to arrest and prosecute all persons involved in illegal bunkering and operation of refineries in Rivers State.
The Governor accused those involved in the illegal acts of causing the black soot menace and environmental degradation endangering the health of residents.
Following the arrest of sone if them, Eradiri, has appealed to Governor Wike, to tread with caution in the ongoing war against the illegal operators.
Eradiri, a two-time Commissioner in Bayelsa State, said adopting brute force to stop illegal refineries, blamed for the soot in Rivers, could only worsen the situation instead of addressing the problem.
While commending Wike for his bold steps, Eradiri urged him to adopt a strategic broader stakeholders engagement in dealing with the menace to avoid creating another cycle of arm struggle in the region.
He insisted that if the situation were not effectively and cautiously managed, myriads of youths, who were already engaged in the illegal business activities for survival, would be forced to acquire arms and fight back.
Eradiri, who spoke in Port Harcourt, Rivers State went down memory lane, saying that the banditry in Zamfara State started when authorities adopted a wrong approach to dislodge hungry youths from Gold mining sites.
He said the problem later came under control when reason prevailed and authorities decided to set up a Committee to harmonise Gold Mining Licenses for the locals.
He insisted that the same approach adopted by the Federal Government in Zamfara to give the locals an opportunity to benefit from their natural resources should be extended to the people of the region.
Eradiri said economic exclusion, hunger, unemployment, high cost of petroleum products, the supply-demand gap of products caused by dysfunctional government-owned refineries and hopelessness were factors fueling establishment of illegal refineries.
He urged Wike to work with the Federal Government to tackle the problem adding that the government had already set up a committee headed by Senator Eta Enang to harmonise the issues in the region.
He said: “The Governor of Rivers State,has demonstrated courage in declaring this war against illegal bunkering and crude cooking of crude oil to protect the people he had sworn to govern.
“I, however, appeal to him to exercise caution because the problem has grown beyond imagination following the myriads of youths involved in it. It has now become a cartel and it requires strategic engagement to dismantle it without creating another cycle of violence in the region.
“I appeal to the Governor to work with the Federal Government because the Government had already set up a committee headed by Senator Eta Enang to harmonise the issues in the region”.
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