Senator Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa West) has raised the alarm that many residents of the oil-rich state are suffering from heavy metal poisoning.
The former governor of Bayelsa State blamed the development on the activities of the various multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta.
Dickson, who is the chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, spoke in Abuja yesterday when the Global Initiative for Climate and Environmental Sustenance conferred on him an excellence in environmental leadership award 2023.
He said the panel he constituted as governor took blood samples of residents of the oil producing areas and after laboratory tests, it was discovered that there was heavy metal poisoning in the people’s bodies as a result of air and water pollution.
He added: “They also got infected from fishes they caught from polluted water and consumed.
“The scientific report produced at the end of the exercise highlighted the plights of the residents of the oil bearing communities in Bayelsa State in particular and the Niger Delta region in general.” He urged the Federal Government to pay attention to the reckless deforestation taking place across the country.
