By VINCENT UJUMADU
AWKA — THOUSANDS of drums of crude oil abandoned by alleged oil bunkerers and illegal refinery operators in Anambra State have littered the banks of River Niger, along Ogbaru axis of the state.
Those involved in the illegal refining activities in the area were said to have abandoned the sites when a combined team of Nigerian Army and Navy raided them, weekend.
Secretary to Anambra State government, SSG, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, said yesterday that officials of the state and Federal Governments were already discussing with security agencies on how to evacuate the abandoned crude oil  that littered the banks of River Niger in  Ogbaru riverine parts of the state.
Obaze, who visited the affected area, lamented that the state inland waterways and agricultural farmlands risked massive pollution if the oil remnants were not evacuated before this year’s flood season set in, regretting that the bunkering activities shifted from the Niger Delta into Ogbaru environs of Anambra State when the Nigeri Delta became too hot for them.
He said that state government was also considering direct legislation or amending the extant criminal code in order to expand the scope of the law on bunkering and enhance existing federal laws.
Via: http://www.vanguardngr.com/
