A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
Residents of Ijaye, Ido, Olowo-Igbo, Iseyin and Ibarapa all in Oyo state, should desist from drinking contaminated water around them, the state's Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Abiodun Oni, has said.
He spoke in Ibadan, the state capital, while enlightening indigenes on the dangers of drinking unsafe water as well as using it for other domestic activities.
According to him, a truck conveying chemical substances recently emptied its content into a drainage that was eventually washed into the streams passing through the five communities
The truck, Oni said, was involved in an accident at Iroko-Oyo highway, while conveying substances presumed to be soap making chemicals.
Continuing further, he said that the soap making chemicals which fell off into the drainage ended up contaminating the streams passing through the five communities, hence the need to warn residents against drinking the water.
He advised farmers who planted their cash crops within the affected areas ditto fishermen operating in the rivers and streams suspend every activity, pending the time the water is tested and thereafter considered safe for consumption.
The government, Oni said, is on top of the situation as the Ministry has dispatched some of its workers to the affected areas to monitor the situation while at the same time, conducting tests on the water in order to find out whether its good for domestic use or not.
Oni said: “The state government will continue to ensure that the ecosystem is protected in the state” he added
Citizens should take responsibility by not disposing chemical substances and other biodegradable items carelessly.
“Furthermore, they should jettison the bad culture of dumping wastes into drainages as they eventually find their ways into streams and rivers and eventually make up their way in the food chain process as such posing threats to all humans”.
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