Well being of Mom Earth Basis, HOMEF, a Civil Society Organisation that focuses on ecological/local weather justice and meals sovereignty, has demanded an finish to land grabbing via mining and exploration actions in oil producing communities within the Niger Delta.
The Programme Supervisor, HOMEF, Stephen Oduware, made the decision in Okoro-Utip, Ibeno Native Authorities Space of Akwa Ibom State over the weekend throughout a farmers’ coaching on land restoration towards land grabbing.
Oduware, who famous that oil producing communities have misplaced their lands via air pollution and useful resource mining, charged the folks to start the method of reclaiming their lands.
To realize that, Oduware defined that the communities ought to generate information and have a baseline displaying their financial and social standing earlier than and after oil spills.
Based on him, “Okoro-Utip and different oil producing communities have misplaced their houses via land grabbing. They’ve been banned from attending to sure locations the place they do their fishing due to oil installations across the space; that could be a type of grabbing.
“When there may be air pollution, communities will now not use their areas, that’s grabbing.
“A selected firm has come to occupy the house the place individuals are staying or farming, that’s land grabbing too. All we’re saying is that, that should cease not simply in Okoro-Utip however in whole Niger Delta the place all types of mining are happening.”
He due to this fact mentioned there must be environmental justice for the folks as a result of they’ve paid the value of the exploration and exploitation of the mineral sources, including that lots of people within the communities are down with persistent ailments, equivalent to most cancers.
Secretary of Okoro-Utip neighborhood, Enyina Wilson, narrated how they’ve been negatively impacted environmentally, economically and healthwise by oil exploitation.
He mentioned, “The oil spills have affected our physique system, you’ll see an individual of 30 years trying like 50 years previous individual and lots of are down with varied types of illness equivalent to most cancers.
“Our water is very polluted, we’re consuming poison and all of the pipes right here have ben polluted.
“Our fishermen might now not see fishes within the ocean and typically once you come within the morning you will note useless fishes. Whenever you go to farm you see oil and it’ll make us have poor yield; even our well being is endangered.
“A few of our ladies who managed to get pregnant undergo miscarriage.”
