National Coordinator, Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), Comrade Sheriff Mulade has indicted the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) over slow and uncoordinated to the plight of oil producing communities.
Mulade told THISDAY in Warri yesterday that the federal government was more concerned with oil production than the plight of the communities.
He said that this had allowed multinational oil companies to continue to destroy the environment without mechanisms for remediation.
“In Nigeria, we pay lip service to the environment. We should adopt capital punishment like we have in Angola for environmental offenders.
“Here, it takes NOSDRA more than two days to get to site of oil spill. We also discover that it is the multinational companies that will provide logistics (accommodation, helicopter) for NOSDRA to assess the site”, he said.
He said that this arrangement enabled the truth behind oil spills to be covered up.
He said that pipelines in the oil-producing areas were overdue for replacement, leading to constant leakage.
The environmentalist further disclosed that community members contracted by the companies to clean up oil spill locations were issued permits by NOSDRA even when they were not qualified.“Our investigation reveals that pipeline vandalism has an undertone.
He said the vandalism was carried out by some of the companies to cover up equipment failure.
“When there is a leakage, the multinational will take the government agencies to other locations of vandalism, rather than the exact point of problem. They will now in collaboration with the government agencies say it is third party interference” Mulade said.
Mulade called for the relocation of the headquarters of NOSDRA to the oil-producing areas for quick response.
“The NOSDRA Act should be amended to relocate the headquarters to any oil-producing state and they will not need the multinational companies to sponsor them.
“The DG and Directors are in Abuja and don’t know what is happening here. I can’t remember seeing the DG visiting any oil spill site,” he said.
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