OCEAN SURGE: NDPF faults FG over abandoning 150 Niger Delta communities

Niger Delta Patriotic Front, NDPF, has faulted Federal Government for failing to address the ocean surge that has ravaged over 150 coastal communities in the Niger Delta.

The group identified Agge in Bayelsa State, Forcados in Burutu Local Government Area, Ugborodo Federated Communities in Warri South-West Local Government Area, Orere Communities, including Ogheye Eghoroke, Ogheye Dimigun, all in Delta State as well as Eki- tie Eki- Kporo, Awoye Community, Igbokoda, Ayetoro, Ekoregho and Araromi in Ondo State, as some of the riverine communities that have lost significant parts of their land to ocean surge.

The group demanded an alternative presidential candidate, ahead of the 2027 elections, saying successive military and civilian administrations abandoned the Niger Delta region since the country gained independence.

In a statement signed by its President, David Odeli and Publicity Secretary, Timi Okubor, they said despite producing the bulk of Nigeria’s crude oil and gas, the Niger Delta continues to suffer from national exclusion and proper national integration as well as development.

They decried the lethargic and often abandoned 422.9 km Warri To Calabar (East-West Road) the Lagos-Benin- Asaba Road, Benin-Sapele-Warri Road and the Koko-Ogheye-Lekki Lagos Road, by consecutive federal governments, after decades of conceptualisation.

They condemned the siting of the headquarters of the International Oil Companies, IOCs, outside their operational bases in the Niger Delta, NDPF.

NDPF, emphasized the need for the Federal Government, through its interventionist agencies, relevant ministries and departments, to develop strong regional policy, in collaboration with governments of the affected states, to prevent Niger Delta Coastal Communities from being wiped away by sea pressure.

“The federal government must as a matter of national urgency, ensure that all sea ports in the Niger Delta, work optimally. It must fast-track rehabilitation of Warri and Port-Harcourt refineries, to extricate the region from the volatility of crude oil at the international market vis-à-vis its impact on the price of refined products”, NDPF noted.

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