Engineers Seek Proper Handling Of Seized Petroleum Products

Engineers, under the auspices of the Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers (NIEEs), have charged the Federal Government on proper handling of seized petroleum products from artisanal oil refiners other than setting them ablaze.
The immediate past Chairman of the Institution in Rivers State, Professor Josiah Ayotamuno, made the call in an interview with newsmen, in Port Harcourt.
Ayotamuno said that government must find a way of properly tackling the menace of illegal oil activities and seized stolen crude.
He frowned at the process of setting ablaze crude oil seized from artisanal refiners by security operatives, saying it causes pollution environment.
According to him, “on the issue of artisanal refining, the government must find a way of tackling it properly, so that in the process of stopping illegal refinery, they don’t just set ablaze stolen crude”.
Prof. Ayotamuno called for collaboration with the academia on how to tackle the crude theft menace in the region.
He noted that “the technology for improving the process has to be developed by the university and other institutions.”
Also speaking, a former Vice Chancellor of University of Port Harcourt, Prof Joseph Ajienka, called for collaboration between oil firms and the academia in the disposal and treatment of crude oil waste to save the environment.