Delta fishermen decry continues pollution of River Forcados

Delta State fishermen who work in the river Forcados have complained about the continued pollution of their main source of income by the Multi-national Oil Company, Sterling Global, and illegal bunkerers who utilise the river to transport their product to other destinations.

Poumakiya Ebife, a fisherman from Ogriagbene, told reporters that the activities of the Oil Company Sterling Global, which transports crude oil by barges from Okpai to Agge, have ruined the fishing industry in the area.

Ebife noted that some barges transporting crude oil spill their contents into the river, killing or chasing aquatic life out.

He bemoaned the fact that he toiled day and night on the Forcados River without catching anything.

The fishermen bemoaned that the executive of the communities around the River Forcados from Ndokwa East Council Area, Isoko South, Patani, Bomadi, and Burutu had been bought over with monthly stipends by the Multi-national Oil firm, and thus said nothing about their suffering.

Mrs Joy Gide, a fisherwoman/dealer in Bomadi, also spoke out against the security agents for assisting and abetting the illegal bunkerers along the river Forcados, which have made life unpleasant for people who rely on the river for their daily survival.

She also demanded that the Joint Military Taskforce JTF reform its members operating in the area and urged the Federal Government to devise alternative means of transferring petroleum other than through the waterways.