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Rivers State government is set to sue the Federal Government and some oil companies over the black clouds in the city of Port Harcourt and environs by what is called soot.
The governor, Nyesom Wike, told a team from the United Nations and the Federal Ministry of Environment that he had instructed the state attorney-general to file a suit. He said the Federal Government deliberately planned to eliminate a greater percentage of the state’s population by the failure to act on the soot and its primary causes.
The threat to sue comes on the plans by the residents to begin protest marches around the state capital. The state government has thus begun to direct where the anger should fall. Several pro-Wike groups have been pointing fingers at the Federal Government. Now, a suit against the soot may be in the offing.
Addressing the delegation of the UN in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, during a meeting to tackle the soot, the governor called on the United Nations to prevail on the Federal Government to act on the soot.
“The problem of soot is not caused by the Rivers State government. It is caused by federal agencies that are practically damaging the environment by their illegal activities.
“The Rivers State government does not own companies that refine crude. We have made representations to the FG and her agencies on the issue of soot, to no avail.
“We have called on the security agencies to find more refined ways of destroying the illegal refineries. We have informed the National Council of Environment, the Military and all federal regulatory agencies, but they are not interested in intervening,” he said.
The governor said the refusal of the Federal Government to act on all data supplied on the soot was a deliberate ploy to make Rivers people suffer health hazards, which would lead to untimely deaths.
“We want the international community to come to our aid and pressure the Federal Government not to politicise environmental issues. We are ready to work with the international community to address this challenge.
“All the Federal Government is doing is to chase shadows, organising people to protest. Until they stop politicising very serious issues and focus on governance, we will head nowhere,” he said.
He wondered why the Federal Government would withdraw $1 billion for security challenge and not withdraw same amount for environmental challenge in the Niger Delta. He said the $1 billion withdrawn by the Federal Government was mainly for election purposes and not for security.
Leader of the UN delegation to Rivers State, Charles Ekong, said the mission of the delegation was to investigative the nature so as to determine a lasting solution to the soot challenge in the state.
In his remarks, assistant director, Federal Ministry of Health, Adebayo Durojaiye, said the UN delegation met with officials of the Rivers State government on the soot challenge.
