Governor Wike Berates GOC 6 Division For Engaging In Oil Bunkering
× Governor Wike Berates GOC 6 Division For Engaging In Oil Bunkering 15 May 2019
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has berated the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Jamil Sarhem for running an illegal oil bunkering squad for the purpose of financing his quest to be appointed the Chief of Army Staff.
Governor Wike declared that any attempt to appoint the GOC of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army as the Chief of Army Staff, would spell doom for the nation s failing security architecture.
He spoke on Wednesday during a Courtesy visit by the Commander of Joint Task Force Operation Delta Safe, Real Admiral Akinjide Akinrinade at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
Pirates abduct six passengers on Bayelsa waterways
The police in Bayelsa State appeal for useful information from the public that could lead to the arrest of the kidnappers.
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The Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State, Mike Okoli, has ordered a manhunt for kidnappers who attacked speedboats and abducted passengers on the Okpoma/Odioma and Nembe/Brass waterways, Tuesday.
The two incidents occurred simultaneously and six passengers were allegedly kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be pirates.
The police spokesperson in Bayelsa State, Butswat Asinim, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Mr Asinim, a superintendent of police, said a joint operation: operatives from the Marine Police, Navy and Joint Task Force ‘Operation Delta Safe’ are combing the creeks to rescue the kidnapped victims and apprehend the kidnappers.
…CP orders manhunt for the kidnappers
By Samuel Oyadongha & Emem Idio, Yenagoa
Fear has heightened among indigenes of the coastal area of Nembe, Brass and Akassa in Nembe and Brass Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State as suspected sea pirates terrorise commercial boats and abduction of a 64year old chief and three others.
The development, it was learned, has forced maritime workers to down tools in the troubled axis.
The State Chairman of the Nigerian Maritime Union, Comrade Ogoniba Ibingansi confirmed on the telephone that the waterways are no longer safe and all boats operating along Odioma, Akassa, Brass and Nembe are no longer loading with passengers told to stay away.
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A resident in Rivers State, Diepriye Joe, is disturbed by the persistent impure carbon particles fouling the air in the state. This is particularly because she feared that the polluted air could infect her with lung infection.
Joe, who resides in Buguma town in the Asari-Toru Local Government Area of the state, lamented that soot had worsened an already bad ecological situation in the area,
She said, “The soot is enormous here. We have been managing water pollution for a long time in this area. We no longer drink well water because of the petrol-like substance in it and now the air too is polluted. Where are we going to live with our children? I don’t know which part of the state that is safe now.
• As 23,000 persons suffer respiratory related ailment in five years
Following recent increase in activities of illegal refiners and bunkerers, there is fear in Rivers State that this may cause a surge of deadly black soot in the atmosphere. A reviewed report of a technical team set up by the Rivers State government and headed by the state’s former Commissioner for Environment, Prof. Roseline Konya, revealed that about 22,077 persons have suffered from respiratory related ailments in the last five years.
The team, made up 20 experts from various inter-disciplinary and relevant fields, including a consultant physician and dermatologist at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Dr. Dasetima Altraide, had conducted investigative studies into the airborne particulate (soot) in Port Harcourt and the report stated that illegal bunkering and gas flaring are two major sources of soot in the state.