Worries as illegal artisanal oil refining festers in Rivers

• Residents lament

• Expert warns against dangers

• Govt wields big stick

Illegal artisanal oil refining activities also known as Kpo Fire in Rivers State are posing serious health and environmental hazards and worries to the residents. Piqued by the menace, the state government has swung into action with a view to halting the illicit act, Daily Trust on Sunday reports.

Kpo Fire is a local oil process of heating the crude in fabricated oven to extract petroleum products, while the residual is released into the environment, not minding the implications on the ecosystem.

The activities are said to be responsible for black soot which has painted Port Harcourt, the state capital, and different parts of the state, black.

Information obtained from the state Ministry of Environment revealed that the artisanal refining activities go on  in 14 out of the 23 local government areas of the state. The activities are said to be causing incomplete combustion of crude, which releases carbon monoxide and sulphur into the air.

Residents of Port Harcourt and its environs started observing the soot in the last quarter of 2016 when the entire city was taken over by black substances.

The soot, which experts attribute to the activities of illegal artisanal refineries, has persisted despite assurances by the state government  to address the issue.

Apart from the health hazards of the soot, it has also polluted the environments, as houses, cars, trees, clothes and other things have dark patches.

The combustible content of soot, according to health experts, has far-reaching hazardous effects on the environment and the health of inhabitants.

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the Kpo Fire business is run by a cartel made up of the rich in the society. The technological skills applied in the refining process show that the business is not for the poor. 

Many prominent Nigerians, it was gathered are involved in the business. They provide the resources used to set up tanks, furnaces and storage facilities.  Workers in oil companies and security agencies are also involved as they provide cover for them and the big sponsors. 

“It is a very serious business that generates huge sums of money,” John Amadi , a Port Harcourt-based petroleum engineer said.

Another resident, Olu Obasa, said Nigeria was losing huge sums of money to the business. He called on the Federal Government to ensure regulation of the activities of artisanal petroleum refining activities in the country.

“Some years ago, the Federal Government came up with a policy to integrate Niger Delta youths involved in illegal artisanal business, with the purpose of harmonising it. 

“Many of those involved in this business have acquired good skills that can be exploited and used to drive local content in refining operations. But because the Federal Government is not living up to expectations, you see the business going the way it is,” he said.

In the last couple of days, over 30 illegal refining sites were discovered by both the state government and local government areas.

In 2017, the Rivers State Government set up a committee to look into the causes and effects of the soot. The committee was headed by the then Commissioner for Information, Dr Austin Tam George. 

The committee carried out an  inspection in areas suspected to have been responsible for the soot. It visited places like abattoirs where tyres were used to roast cow, the Port Harcourt refinery and some of creeks where the  refining activities took place. 

The immediate actions of the committee yielded result as many people were arrested and their business centres were shut down.

The report of the committee revealed 12 sources of the soot, including illegal refineries, burning of refined petroleum products by the military, meat roasting with tyres, gas flaring, asphalt plants, refuse burning and the activities of fertilizer companies.

Information obtained from the state Ministry of Environment revealed that artisanal refining goes on  in 14 out of the 23 local government areas of the state. Also, activities of refiners are said to be causing incomplete combustion of crude, which releases carbon monoxide and sulphur into the air.

The committee, in its recommendations, suggested creating modular refineries and integrating artisanal refiners into cooperatives for a formal refining of petroleum products which, according to its report, is one of the most effective ways to curb the menace.

In a report, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that due to inaction against environmental crisis, microscopic particles in the soot could penetrate deep into the lungs, and have been linked to a wide range of serious health challenges, including pre-mature death, heart attack, stroke, acute bronchitis, cancer and aggravated asthma in both children and the aged.

Elder Bright Odosa, a resident of Oyigbo in Oyigbo Local Government Area, said the activities had been posing  health and environmental hazards on the people. According to him, the black soot poses major health challenge to him and his family.

“The soot brought about by illegal artisanal refining business is really killing us. If you wake up in the morning, the first thing that you experience is sneezing and coughing and each time you cough or sneeze you throw up blackish mucus from either your nostril or mouth. If you use toilet tissue to clean your nose, what you get is blackish substances. This is really bad. We also have intermittent catarrh that has defiled medical solutions. I am not talking about the environments, the houses, the roofs, the floors. Everywhere is black. This is what we are passing through on a daily basis,” Ogbemudia said.

A resident of Ogbodo in Emohua Local government Area, Nyeche Uzoma, said the residents of the area had been exposed to respiratory diseases as a result inhalation of soot that has polluted the air.

“Almost everybody in my family is down with respiratory diseases. There is catarrh everywhere. I have catarrh which has lasted for one mouth now. I have taken several drugs to no avail. My children are coughing and their condition seems to have defied medical attention. When you clean your nostrils, you get some black substances. When you cough, you get black mucus. This is how it has been. We don’t spread out clothes outside anymore because when you do, the clothes would turn to black,” he said.

Another resident of Oyigbo, Mrs Joy Chuks, said: “I have been down with catarrh in the  past three weeks. I have taken several medications, but the illness has persisted. I can’t sleep well at  night because I sneeze intermittently with black mucus coming out from my nostrils. They cook the substance in mid night and in the morning the atmosphere would become black and people would be inhaling gasoline soot that is injurious to health,” she said.

Following the menace, Governor Nyesom Wike has launched an onslaught against the illegal business. Recently, he  embarked on a tour of the track roads into the forest of Ogbodo community in Ikwerre Local Government Area as well as that of Ibaa community in Emohua Local Government Area, where he uncovered some illegal oil refining sites.

The governor said that the culprits, no matter how highly placed, would be handled according to the dictates of the law.  

He has ordered the chairmen of all the 23 local government areas in the state to hire bulldozers and destroy every identified illegal crude oil bunkering and artisanal refining in their domains.

He also asked the commissioner of police in the state, Eboka Friday, to provide adequate security for the chairmen of the local government areas as they embark on mass destruction of the illegal refining sites.

Wike also urged the Department of State Service (DSS) to profile persons involved in the business and make the list available to him. 

He said that after receiving the list of illegal refining sites, the state government would provide financial support to the chairmen of the local government areas to hire bulldozers to destroy the sites.

“I will not relent in this fight. All of you should hire bulldozers. You are to clear those areas where the illegal refining sites are in the bushes and creeks. Government will give you some money to hire bulldozers and clear the sites so that they will know we are serious,” he said.

 “I am not against anybody making money, but we cannot allow people to make money while others are dying,”  he said.

The governor said his action was aimed at ensuring that the health of Rivers people is not further hampered by the hazards of the activities.

 “One thing I want to say, which is very clear, and I would like everybody to know, is that I am not against anybody making money, but we cannot allow people to make money while others are dying,” Governor Wike said.

He acknowledged that since the state government intensified the fight against illegal refining operators, the quality of air in parts of the state had improved remarkably.

An  environment  expert, Akpan James, has warned against the hazardous effects of the business.

He said the culprits were not experienced and the crude method they use result in environmental health hazard.

“The business is very bad for the environment. You can imagine the soot challenges we are witnessing now. There are so many illnesses in the state now because of the activities of these illegal and crude refiners. Until this menace is addressed, our environments are at the mercy of health hazards,” he said.