Journalists invited by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) on Wednesday to cover its official handing over of polluted and contaminated sites to contractors at Kare-Dare in Gokana local government area of Rivers state escaped death by whiskers as irate youths from the community set ablaze a coaster bus that brought them from Port Harcourt to Kare-Dare.
Witness account said that trouble started barely twenty minutes after the long convoy of the HYPREP Coordinator, Dr Mavin Dekil, arrived the community to meet with the Chiefs and community leaders of area.
The witness said the entire atmosphere became charged minutes after the HYPREP Coordinator started addressing the leaders of the community on the mission of the agency to the community.
He said the youths who were not happy that they are being sidelined in the project became restive and threatened to stop the event.
He said while the Project Director was delivering his speech, one of the youths threw a substance suspected to be petrol bomb into the Coaster bus which instantly set it ablaze.
About 10 journalists from different media houses that came with the bus watched helplessly as their personal belongings such as laptops, cameras, midgets and handsets were engulfed in the flame.
One of the affected journalists who does not want his name on print narrated to our reporter how the incident happened.
“We left Port Harcourt to Kare-Dare in company of HYPREP Coordinator to hand over polluted sites to contractors. Less than thirty minutes of our arrival and mid way into the event marking the handing over of the sites, a police officer came to the venue and informed us that the youths have set ablaze one of the buses that came from Port Harcourt.
“We all rushed out only to find out that the bus in question was the one that brought us from Port Harcourt. Most of my colleagues have their personal belongings such as laptop, handsets, cameras and midgets inside the bus.
“The most annoying thing is that the police and soldiers that accompanied the Coordinator watched helplessly while this happened,” the journalist narrated.
He expressed anger that the HYPREP officials did not show any concern about the incident just as the stranded journalists had to make new arrangement for another vehicle which take them out of the area.
When contacted, HYPREP’s media coordinator, Mr Kabari, said he has directed those affected in the incident to make inventory of their losses.
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