The Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, David Irimagha has appealed to the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies in the area to step up the fight against sea piracy and other acts of criminality on the Bonny waterways.
Irimagha gave this charge at a one-day sensitisation lecture organised by the Nigerian Navy in the locality with the theme “Illegal Oil Refining (“Kpo-Fire”): Issues, Challenges and Way Forward”.
In a statement made available to The Tide on Wednesday by the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Chairman, Williams Ogbah-Agwu, the chairman called for inter-agency collaboration and intelligence sharing among the security agencies in the area to enhance their capacity to nip emerging security challenges in the bud.
The Chairman who was represented by his Vice, Anengi Barasua lauded the Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base (FOB), Bonny, Navy Capt. Kola Oguntuga, for conceptualising such sensitisation programme, noting that it creates the necessary awareness and co-operation from the people of the area.
Also speaking, Chairman of the Bonny Council of Chiefs, Chief Dagogo Claude-Wilcox described the event as “a very important day for Bonny Kingdom as this marks the beginning of a new dawn for the community”.
He said that the sensitisation programme was “of monumental importance as it would enlighten us on the hazards of illegal oil refining,”
“This devil in our community called ‘kpo fire’ will be eradicated for the betterment of us all”.
Earlier, Navy Capt. Oguntuga while   welcoming  the participants had said that the sensitisation programme was aimed at creating the right awareness about issues affecting the security situation in the area.
He said the event was to enhance the synergy between the Nigerian Navy and the civilian populace in the area in its efforts at addressing security challenges.
In his keynote address, Professor of Animal and Environmental Biology/Benthic Ecology, University of Port Harcourt, Professor Ibitoru Hart warned that illegal or artisanal refining of crude oil across the Niger Delta region was destructive to the environment as it poses a threat to aquatic and wild life in the region.
He blamed the debilitating incidents of soot across Rivers State on illegal refining.
“Soot that falls on water is oil that prevents oxygen from dissolving into the water thus endangering the fishes and other animals in the water, including plants and other sea organisms”, he said.