Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, has announced that the Honourable Attorney General of Rivers State has been directed to sue the FG and International Oil Companies operating in the state over the soot which has befallen the state.
According to Nyesom Wike who addressed a delegation of the United Nations at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Wednesday during a high-profile meeting to tackle the soot, the APC led government deliberately plans to eliminate a greater percentage of the state’s population, by her failure to act on the soot and its primary causes.
The Rivers State Governor further called upon the United Nations to prevail on the FG, to act on the soot.
“Thank God that the United Nations has come in view of the issues we have raised. .
If we must move on, we must situate the cause of the soot and the fact that the FG has decided to make sure that a greater percentage of the state dies.
The FG wants to eliminate a greater percentage of the state. The problem of soot is not caused by the Rivers State Government. It is caused by Federal Agencies.”
The governor said that the FG and her agencies are practically damaging the environment by their illegal activities. .
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“The Rivers State Government do 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,” Wike said.
Governor Wike said the refusal of the federal government to act on all data supplied on the soot, is a deliberate ploy to make Rivers people suffer health hazards which will 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.
