- Link Oil Major’s Production Activities In Region
- It’s a ‘serious public health threat’, Environmentalist, Nnimmo Bassey Raises Alarm
Environmentalists’ groups and members of the FishNet Alliance have called on relevant regulatory agencies in Nigeria to investigate the actual cause of dead fishes being washed ashore Niger Delta coastline with a view to addressing the menace.
Also, they want the perpetrators of actions leading to the worrying development brought to book, should the cause of fishes’ death come from any unnatural cause, according to a release made available to The New Diplomat by Ms. Joyce Ebebeinwe, Project Officer, Health of Mother Earth Foundation.
The groups — FishNet Alliance, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Oilwatch Africa — said the immediate cause of the incident was yet to be ascertained, but suspected that the activities of multinational oil and gas production companies operating in the region could have had a direct link to the mass death of fishes along Niger Delta coastline.
The groups want the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the National Environmental Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) to urgently investigate what led to the loss of the fishes in their natural habitat.
The call was made in a field report titled: ‘Massive Death of Fish Across the Atlantic Coastline of the Niger Delta’ released on 5th May, 2020 by the FishNet Alliance, Nigeria.
News of dead fishes washing ashore first broke on 20th February, 2020 when community people from Ogbulagha Kingdom in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State reported massive death of fishes, floating and littering their shores.
In April, a dead whale was ashore in Bonny, Rivers state, causing many to worry over the extent of coastline pollution in the oil-rich Niger Delta, The New Diplomat reported.
“This incident has replicated itself in other fishing communities along the Atlantic coastline in the Niger Delta states of Ondo, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom. The species of fish mostly affected is the Croaker Fish popularly called Broke-Marriage or Onah in local dialect,” the report stated.
It continued: “The immediate cause of the incident is yet to be known, but there are speculations that it is related to the activities of multinational oil and gas production companies operating in the region. Among other pointers to the oil companies as source of the incident, some environmentalists have attributed the dead fish littering the Niger Delta coastline to discharge of toxic chemicals from oil company operations at Forcados oil export terminal and urged governments at the affected areas to wake-up to their responsibilities in the protection of the environment and the service to the people, while calling on NOSDRA to ensure that the result of the tests are not unduly delayed.”
The report added that some community persons are picking up the dead fishes and taking them home for consumption and/or to process and sell to unsuspecting members of the public. “In some communities, there have been reported cases of dogs dying after consuming the dead fish.
“There are also fears that if not properly and timely investigated, this trend could continue and even spread to other communities- knowing the interconnectedness of rivers (in the Niger Delta and other water ways in Nigeria).
“These communities need help as they are faced with hardship caused by the lockdown, to curb the spread of coronavirus and threats from pollution of their waters – which is their major source of livelihood.”
Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey while expressing serious concerns over the development, said: “When our coastlines become littered with dead fish, it is a clear indication that there is a serious public health threat.
“The dead fish are smoking guns pointing at a serious crime. The coronavirus pandemic should not deter the relevant institutions from getting to the root of the matter. This matter should not be swept under the carpet because we are focusing attention on the pandemic.”
While the report acknowledged that NOSDRA and NIMASA have taken samples of the dead fish and water from the affected areas for analyses, the stakeholders demand a full and unbiased investigation into the issue and for perpetrators, if any, to face the full weight of the law.
They called on all stakeholders including the environment and health NGOs to put pressure on the authorities to see this as a major disaster and ensure that the cause of the pollution is quickly detected and the public is duly alerted.
“Adequate sensitization to raise awareness among the people, especially in environments experiencing the phenomenon” should be carried out “to ensure that the dead fish are not consumed or sold in view of possible health implications,” the groups said.
