Residents of Ugborodo, a riverine settlement in Warri, Delta State, has decried environmental degradation in the community due to the activities of International Oil Companies, IOCs.

The residents of the community, operating under the aegis of Ugborodo Community Youth Development Body, in an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, signed by Wilson Ejeh and David Mamah, President and Public Relations Officer, respectively, expressed disaffection over the neglect of the Delta Port in Warri by the immediate past and the present administration.

They said efforts made to the minister of Marine and Blue Economy and heads of parastatals under him, either through written or verbal communication, to make them commit to the dredging of Escravos Bar Mouth/ Warri River, fell on deaf ears, adding that they will mobilise to obstruct activities of oil companies of the trend continues.

The letter noted that all the appeals and entreaties made by the community to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, to dredge the Escravos Bar Mouth and Warri River with a view to allowing bigger ships and vessels access Delta ports and subsequently revitalize commercial activities in Delta and neighbouring states, for the overall benefit of the nation, have been ignored.

Parts of the letter read: “These entreaties, include the recent open letter addressed to Your Excellency, which was widely publicized in various print and online media across the country.

“This I – don’t – care attitude of the minister is not only disrespectful to the
Ugborodo people, other Itsekiris and our neighbours, but tantamount to economic sabotage and deliberate attempt to project your administration in bad light before Deltans.

“It is vitally important at this juncture to emphasize that vessels that occasionally pass through the Escravos Bar Mouth, are often grounded for more than two weeks, as a result of NNPCL pipelines shallowly laid decades ago, resulting in astronomical increase in transportation and allied costs on the part of the importers.

“This leads to near comatose of the over 20 petrol depots in Delta State and eventually translates into huge financial burden on the consumers, especially riverine dwellers who are compelled to cough out times two of what urban residents spend to buy diesel, PMS (fuel) and other petroleum products.”

Warri community threatens to disrupt IOCs’ operations over failure to dredge Escravos