Founder and President General of Akwa Ibom Oil Producing Community Development Network (AKIPCON), Apostle Ufot Phenson has raised alarm on ecosystem destruction by the extractive industry in Akwa Ibom and the likelihood of fish scarcity in the country.
Apostle Phenson said the incessant oil spills with attendant contamination of water bodies and gas flares that scare wild life and rain down as acids, continue to rob the locals of livelihoods and force many to abandon fishing and farming.
Ufot warned that the unchecked pollutions including the most recent in Ibeno Local Government Area of the state, would worsen the food crisis that locals are already facing and force many into crime.
He made the disclosure at the public presentation of a book he co-authored titled, State Security Management, Hydrocarbon Pollution, Environment and Implications on Human Rights in Nigeria in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, Thursday, September 5. 2024.
The AKIPCON founder explained that the network was born as a mechanism for awareness creation on the negative impact of oil and gas exploration activities against the environment and the people, from a desire to halt the destruction of the environment in the state without recourse to remediation by oil majors and indigenous operators.
Said he: “Akwa Ibom Oil Producing Community Development Network, AKIPCON came on board after a thoughtful deliberation in 2006, on issues bordering on hydrocarbon pollution occasioned by the activities of multinationals and indigenous oil and gas companies operating in the state.
“The cardinal objectives of the organization include the protection and promotion of environmental and human rights of the people as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the African Charter on Human Rights, the International Conventions on Economic, Social and Civil Rights on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against the people which, Nigeria is a signatory.”
In respect to the impact made in the communities by AKIPCON, the 31 paramount rulers in the state donated in 2016, an irrevocable power of attorney to the president to fight their cause.
of the occasion and executive director EdEN, Dr Chima William. With them are EDEN board
members, Chief Morris Alagoa and Philip Jakpor first and second left and In the middle is
an associate of the author
“Due to these laudable objectives, the paramount rulers or their representatives in the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, donated an irrevocable power of attorney to Dr Ufot Phenson and Evangelist Emmanuel Bassey, the president general and secretary general respectively, in 2016, to among other things, represent the voiceless people of Akwa Ibom State in the struggle for their socio-economic wellbeing trampled upon by oil companies operating in the state.”
He stated that, using a non-violent and lawful approach, AKIPCON has instituted several cases against erring operators at the federal high courts in Abuja, Lagos and Uyo, using highly professionalized human rights lawyers of international repute, environmental consultants and estate surveyors and valuers with the realization of safe, secured and sustainable environment development devoid of human destruction as the body’s vision.
He called on government to act to halt the high cost of fishing implements, sea piracy, oil and gas pollution and the attendant impoverishment of the people while decrying the abandonment of fishing occupation.
Chairman of the occasion, Chima Williams Esq. described the book as timely noting that it captures in clear and understandable language, the situation in most communities in the Niger Delta where oil is mined.
Williams who is executive director of Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) maintained that the insecurity in the Niger Delta is fuelled by the pollutions and neglect of the host communities and their frustrations as producers of the golden egg who have nothing to show for it.
The EDEN executive director said the solution to the environment crisis in Akwa Ibom, like much of the Niger Delta, must start with a comprehensive environmental audit to determine the amount of destruction in the ecosystem to be able to come up with holistic solutions.
He described the author of the book as eminently qualified to x-ray the issues bedevilling the Niger Delta oil belt and proffer solutions as one who has traversed the public service and is now engaging with the impacted peoples at the grassroots.
He used the opportunity to also disclose that EDEN will work with AKIPCON to continue to document oil impacts and challenge the relevant state institutions to take action to remediate the environment and hold its destructors to account.
The very well attended event also featured awards to several individuals and traditional rulers for their distinguished contributions to the efforts of AKIPCON to fight for environmental justice in the state and the inauguration of the local government chapters of AKIPCON.
The event had in attendance, civil society activists, the media, traditional rulers and members of AKIPCON from the 31 local government areas of the state, and researchers.
