The Chairman of Andoni Local Government, Hon. Erastus Awortu, has warned youths of the Local Government Area against returning to illegal artisanal crude oil refining activities.
Awortu, who spoke during the Unyeada fishing festival, said he had information that some people were making arrangements to start illegal refineries in the local waters.
He said, “We cannot allow it because the waters and the swamp are the source of livelihood for our people- the people that trade in periwinkles; people that trade in fishes.”
He said it was not everyone that can go far into the sea to fish and therefore depend on the nearby waters for their means of livelihood so, the waters must not be polluted.
“We cannot allow these waters to be polluted. We cannot amplify poverty by allowing illegal refineries within this area,” he said, adding that rather than destroy the environment, the youths should protect it as well as the livelihoods of their parents and their weaker kinsfolk.
“I will give you a clear example. If you go to the military; if you are 60 and you are not retired, you will not go to war. Who goes to war to protect Nigeria? There are young officers; they have the responsibility of protecting the whole country.
“How can we be youths and not know that it is our duty to protect our land; to protect our aged parents, to protect the weak who cannot go far to fish but have to live with us?” he asked.
The council chairman said he would be ready to act on any information passed on to him about artisanal refineries.
“We will not allow just one person to eat and (live) out the other people in hunger. That is not what our government stands for. We stand for equity. Everybody will survive; everybody will live, everybody will benefit from our environment in its pure form to the coming generations so that they don’t say our parents destroyed the place. They too have to live,” he stressed.
He said the protection of the country is a collective responsibility.
“Nigeria is our only country; we don’t have any other place to call our own, so we cannot sit back and watch people in the name of oil exploration business destroy our people and our environment. It is our collective responsibility to protect, preserve and defend our country,” he added.
