By FEMI AKINOLA
The Olu of Warri in Delta State, Ogiame Atuwatse II, has raised an alarm over over ocean surge threathening some waterform Itsekiri communities in Warri North Local Government of the oil rich state as ocean surge swept through communities and washed away a primary school.
The traditional ruler has appeal to the Federal Government including Delta State Government to, as a matter or urgency, rise up and help the vulnerable Iteskiri communities to ensure their continued existence.
In a statement released to the media by the Olu’s Liason Office, it said , ”The ocean surge is already washing away several Itsekiri communities in Warri North Local Government Area.”
The statement signed by the monarch’s representative to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Edema Collins Orritsetimeyin, it listed Ogheye Zion, Ogheye Eghoroke, Orere, and Ogheye Ajadogo, as the Itsekiri communities in Warri North Local Government Area that ocean has swept through in the past two weeks.
The statement noted that waterfront Itsekiri communities are facing dire situation due to continuous ocean surge in the past weeks and that it has wreaked havoc on their livelihoods, homes, schools and vital infrastructure.
Part of the statement reads: ”Ugbeni Primary School, the only school in Ogheye Eghoroke community, had been completely washed into the ocean. Several homes, including the residence of the community leader, Olare-Aja, built in 2020 by Hon. Daniel Ireyeniju, have been lost to the advancing water.
”Some residents, whose home have been washed away, revealed that they are now forced to squeeze about ten people into a single room for shelter.
”Most alarming is the fact that the community’s only borehole, which serves as the only source of drinking water, has also been claimed by the ocean water, leavin residence with no choice but to rely on the ocean water for bathing, without access to clean drinkin water.
”The situation in the neighbouring communities is worse. Ogheye Zion and Ogheye Ajadogo have been entirely submerged, with no trace of the communities existence. Efforts to reach Orere, the adjacent community to Ogheye Eghoroke, were unsuccessful due to the lack of access to a jetty, as much of the community have been swallowed by the ocean.
”Ogheye is host to Chevron’s offshore oil block, Okan Field, where oil was first discovered in 1963. For over 60 years, oil explortion activities have taken their toll on the shoreline communities, leving these communities more vulnerable to the encroaching ocean.”
The monarch called on the Federal Government, Delta State Government, Non-Governmentaal Organisations, the United Ntions, including all wellmeaning individuals and organisations to come to the aid of these vulnerable communities.
He said the damaged caused by decades of oil exploration in the area must be countered by meaningful action to support the communities that have borne the brunt of environmental degradation.
