A 113-year-old man, Pa Henson Nwannete, has allegedly died of suffocation from gas flaring in Etitioha Ipu Autonomous Community, Owaza, Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State.
The traditional ruler of the community, Eze Obioma Nworgu, disclosed this to our correspondent in his palace after an uproar that followed the death of the centenarian.
Nworgu said the medical report of the old man suggested that he might have died of complications from inhaling the “thick smoke and the lack of proper medical attention.”
Disclosing that he too had “huge money-consuming health challenges,” the monarch added that the people had yet to enjoy the benefits of oil exploration, which began in the community in 1958.
He decried the level of pollution in the community, which he said was once an agrarian settlement, describing the oil companies operating in the area as “very callous, barbaric and wicked, to say the least.”
“The flaring has become alarming, hazardous and unbearable. I am, therefore, appealing to the Federal Government to intervene in the matter before it becomes worse,” he noted.
The 60-year-old mother said both their farmlands and sources of potable water had been polluted due to the flaring of gas and oil exploration in the area.
“There is nothing here for us to show as an oil producing community in terms of social amenities and employment for our youths,” he said.
He maintained that if it not for the efforts of the elders of the community, who had been appealing to the youths, they would have protested against the situation.
“As I speak, we have unemployed graduates of various disciplines and artisans in the community, roaming about the nook and cranny of the community in frustration,” he added.
The monarch, whose palace is close to three oil wells located in the community, said the fume and smoke from the flaring of gas had been corroding metal works and roofing sheets on their buildings.
On the recent nomination of an indigene of the community as a commissioner representing the state on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, he described it as a welcome development.
“But my worry is the delay in swearing him in. Until this is done, the essence of nominating Mr. Nworgu Nna Nwogu to the board will remain a mirage and elusive,” the monarch said.
Efforts by our correspondent to contact one of the oil companies operating in the community, proved abortive as a security guard manning the gates said, “The officer in charge is away to Port Harcourt.”
