Okrika Natives Agonise Over Havoc By Oil Firms, Seek Gov’s Help
Edith CHUKU
The activities of oil companies in communities in the Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, have drastically affected the indigenous people of Okrika, who depend mainly on fishing, picking of periwinkles, oysters, for their survival.
The oil companies refusal to clean up or proffer remediation to the environment has become a threat, as their aquatic life appears to be winding up.
In recent times, most rivers in Okrika have become unfit for fishing due to oil spill, which has highly polluted it.
Worried by the hardship, poverty and hunger the activities of oil companies have brought upon them, Okrika natives have sent a ‘save our soul’ message to the governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara.
The native fishermen are begging the governor to come to their aid by empowering them with fishing nets and boats, and hold the oil companies accountable over their activities.
While the fishermen requested for boats and nets from the state government, the women who lamented over the scarcity of periwinkles and oysters following oil spill, appealed for employment as cleaners to reduce their sufferings.
They expressed their grievances and made their appeals in an exclusive interview with TNN, when our correspondent visited the Okrika River in Koniju Town, on Thursday.
One of the fishermen, Mr. Sample Godday, who was about entering the river for fishing, explained why fish, periwinkle, oysters and other sea food were very expensive and scarce.
Godday also stated measures that should be employed to salvage the situation.
Speaking in Pidgin English, he said, “so many things dey involved for this fishing; one, for now the river dey full because of the rain. Because of the quantity of the rain, the salt water taste if you taste am you no go too notice am, so all the fishes go hide.
“When we go fish, out of struggle, any small one wey we get, na em we dey make use. Before, if you go fish highest one hour you don get small thing but now, you go spend upto three, four, five hours, and that small thing wey you bin dey get, you never still get am.
“So we dey go extra mile to get the thing. So with that, when we come for waterside to sell am dey dey very high.”
The Okrika fisherman appealed for the immediate intervention of the state government. “Government suppose help us. I know know why these politicians when them enter office them dey always forget we fishermen. When I think am eh dey pain me. We be self employed, na this fishing we dey use help ourselves.
“Government suppose assist us with nets, boats and occasionally them call us, empower and support us to help our family because na from here we dey train our children and support our families.
“Before now, children dey grow before them enter school, but now, them go go nursery, primary before secondary and all this na money, plus the feeding, pikin sick, clothe, all those ones dey press us well, well.
“We go like make government help us, make them try for us. Government dey only remember us when eh reach time to vote, them go begin call us to come, eh no good, make government help us, abeg.”
Also speaking, another fisherman, Mr. Emmanuel Dasmika, who is popularly known as “Educated Fisherman” accused the oil company in the area of contributing to their suffering without any form of remediation.
“As you can see, the women with the men are same level; no change, no difference. As I spoke earlier, you can see the flow station here; Alakiri, so called Alakiri, we have about 20 to 30 fishing settlements around that same Alakiri, I cannot mention them now but I have the documents, no one has ever, or the company itself can never say we are helping the people around the area we are drilling our oil or we site our company, they cannot.
“These contractors they employ, they go outside and employ workers so that they can pay them peanuts not the indigenes that owns the area. How about the fish you are killing day by day? that is why you see the people suffering. The prices of fish go higher every day, without these circumstances I see no reason why fish will cost here. It’s because of the poverty level, the ecological effect the oil has on the people that is why you see the fish, Isam, everything is high and everyday by day the population is adding, the moment they leave school no job, they come down to fishing.”
Emphasising that fishing was the only occupation of Okrika people, Dasmika regretted that, “you cannot see the government help the people, empowering them with nets or the least boats. Before we hire boat N200 and N500 but now it’s N1,000. Sometimes we don’t even catch fish upto N1,000 then how do we pay the people?
“If government wants to help us let them start with nets and boats before any other empowerment.”
Further, a representative of the women whose occupation was picking of periwinkles and oysters, from Ngeme-Biri, Iyayari Emie, lamented that they were helpless.
Narrating her story she said, “eh don tay wey I start dey go this periwinkles, since wey I never born na em I start dey go this prewinkles. Before we dey see periwinkles plenty but now we no dey see am plenty, eh dey dey very hard, we dey paddle go far side, sometimes when we go, oil don kill the whole Isam there, ‘mgbe’ self we no dey see, we go fin oo, waka, ‘oyster’ we no dey see.
“Before we dey carry two, three, four bags but now, for the whole day na small bag we dey carry come back, and eh dey very hard for us to see Isam.
“Why we dey go this periwinkles. Like me, I don finish S S 3, I write my WAEC, I finish in the year 2005, I no see work, I no see helper, so this Isam na em I dey use help myself with my children. My children wey dey go school, na this same Isam I dey use pay their school fees. Some of the women wey dey follow me go Isam no marry, some their husbands don die, some of them, their husbands dey but them no dey do work, so the Isam wey them dey go na em them dey use help their Children.”
Emie pleaded with the government to, “give us empowerment, make him give us work, at least cleaner we go do. Because now, some of us, as we don go Isam like this for years our memory no go fit dey for book again, we no go fit read again, eh go hard for us.
“If na cleaner work, handwork, we go fit use am dey help ourselves and our family, things don really hard for us, make them help us”
She further expressed her grievances against the oil company in their area. “Oil company never do anything for us, nothing, when we go oyster we no dey see, them no dey help us, sometimes the pipeline wey we dey pass wey pipe dey, we dey even dey fear whether the pipe go explode because na potopoto we dey match and our leg dey reach for pipe.
“We dey paddle go far, na suffer we dey suffer, make them help us for handwork and cleaner, we no go fit read or write, we no fit use our result do anything, make them help us.”
