Koko toxic waste: Workers accuse FG of neglect, threaten showdown

Contract workers engaged to evacuate the toxic waste shipped into the country by an
Italian company in 1988 have cried foul over their alleged neglect by the Federal Government.
Sources at Koko, Delta State, the community where the waste was dumped and the evacuation exercise took place, told The Point that those who engaged in the risky process were never compensated by the government.
The source also disclosed that no fewer than 40 of the contract workers had lost their lives due to complications arising from direct exposure to the toxic chemicals.
Investigation revealed that 173 workers participated in the evacuation exercise supervised
by one Silver Ajaino. The workers were hired by a firm, Tonad Associates, which was said to have been contracted by the Nigeria Ports Authority to carry out the evacuation exercise.
One of the now deceased participants was Mr. Sunday Nana, whose family members had to relocate as a result of the noticeable changes on the plants in his immediate surroundings, where grasses were said to have dried off even during rainy seasons.
“The soil, at best, remains malnourished as a result of the dumped toxic waste,” a source said.
Our Correspondent gathered that the survivors had lately been threatening legal action
and other possible measures against the Federal Government if it failed to pay them due compensation.
Attempts by our correspondent to speak with the medical officer in charge of the Koko General Hospital, Dr. Mukoro Simeon, did not yield any result as he was shielded by his staff who insisted he was not available for comments.
Our correspondent had wanted the doctor to confirm if any of the patients brought to the hospital in the recent past had been diagonised with toxic-related diseases.
It was gathered that the Federal Environmental Protection Agency was directly in charge when the Koko toxic waste incident occurred about 28 years ago. FEPA staff were said to be deeply involved in the evacuation process.
The then military government under president Ibrahim Babangida, had forced the Italian company that shipped the waste to Nigeria to take them back to their country.
Mr. Dandy Eze of the Paths To Freedom, a nongovernmental organisation, who has volunteered to fight for the remaining affected workers to get compensated, confirmed that over 40 of those who carried out the assignment had died as a result of hunger, starvation and strange ailments.
Eze, however, cautioned the remaining participants against taking the law into their hands
in the course of agitating for their compensation.
“Violence is counter-productive. Those that have been canvassing for it should sheathe
their sword because it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. Nothing meaningful can be achieved in an atmosphere of violence,” he said.
Further checks revealed that in 2008 the Federal Government paid compensation to some NPA staff, who carried out the evacuation exercise.
However, Ajaino was quoted as saying that the money was not paid to the right persons who carried out the exercise.
“From the information I gathered, the Federal Government paid a sum of N39.7million and maybe the money fell into the wrong hands”, Eze said.