A Niger Delta based-non-governmental organisation
(NGO), the Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), on Monday threatened
to initiate court action against the federal government and multinational
companies over failure to put an end to gas flaring in the region.
To prevent court action, the group therefore urged
the government to compel multinational oil companies to immediately begin the
process of putting an end to gas flaring in the oil rich Niger Delta region and
threatened to drag the government and oil firms to court if nothing is urgently
done to address the issue.
The National Coordinator of CEPEJ, Sheriff Mulade
in a statement issued in Warri, Delta State, decried the continued gas flaring
by multinational oil companies in the region, noting that adequate measures
must be put in place now to eliminate gas flaring.
The environmentalist claimed that the federal government
was not doing enough to call multinational oil companies to order over their
continued gas flaring, adding that consideration should be given to the lives
of people being exposed to the hazard of gas flaring in the region.
He implored the federal government to enforce the
ultimatum to the multinationals issued to them long ago and recommended stiff
sanctions against, including withdrawal of operational licences of defaulting
oil firms.
"We are not happy about the flagrant manner in
which multinationals disobey orders to stop gas flaring in the region. We are
worried about the increased mortality
rate caused by gas flaring in host communities. Unless serious steps are
taken by the federal government against these
multinational oil companies to end gas
flaring, host communities may have no choice but to take their destiny in their
own hands," he said.
He added that "the federal government should not be silent over
the gas flaring when people in the region are being poisoned by black carbon emitted into
the air through gas flaring. It is the responsibility of the federal government
to compel multinational oil companies to abide by environmental best practices
for the safety of our eco-system."
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