Residents of Agbura and Otuokpoti communities in Ogbia and Yenagoa local government Areas of Bayelsa State, have reported a massive oil leak in the nearby Ekole Creek.
They claim that the source of the spill was an oilfield operated by the Nigeria Agip Oil Company, NAOC, and has resulted in the destruction of farmlands and aquatic lives in the communities.
Many of the residents reportedly trooped to the scene of the leak to scoop the flowing crude oil, which they say was about five centimetres thick on the water surface.
One of the people in the area, Cecilia Osain, told journalists that the spillage has negatively affected fishing activities in the river.
She said that those who went fishing came back with no catch as the crude oil had forced the fishes, crayfish and shrimps farther off the high seas where artisanal fishermen cannot venture.
Osain complained that water from the creek could no longer be used either for drinking or for domestic use.
In the meantime, leaders of Otuokpoti community have called on Governor Seriake Dickson to as a matter of urgency send relief materials to the community to cushion the effect of the oil spill.
In a letter co-signed by the Paramount ruler, Chief Cousin Wongo and the Community’s Development Committee chairman, Simpson Isikpi, the community noted that the spillage has negatively affected the economic life of the people as the river serves as a major source of income to members of the community.
“We cannot drink water, we cannot bathe in the river, our aquatic life such as fish and animals are dying. We appeal to the relevant authorities to come to our aid” the letter read in part.
They also called for the immediate clean -up of the river to enable the people resume their fishing activities.
Also, spokesperson of the youth wing of the Ogbia Brotherhood, Lamawal Wilfred, said that operators of the oil field must send experts to the area to ascertain the cause of the leak and effect repairs as soon as possible.
He urged NAOC to prevent further pollution of the river which serves as their major source of water.
When contacted, officials of NAOC declined to comment on the development; also, Filippo Cotalinni, Media Relations Manager of Eni, parent company of NAOC, has yet to respond to a request for comments on the incident.
A Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court has ordered one of Nigeria’s top telecommunications company, Airtel, to pay the sum of N5 million to one Emmanuel Anene, for violating his right to privacy.
Justice Jude Okeke delivered the unprecedented judgement on Wednesday in a suit filed by Anene in December last year, alleging constant disturbance by Airtel through unsolicited messages to his telephone line.
The complainant had asked for N200 million in damages but the trial judge only granted him N5 million.
Justice Okeke held that “Putting into consideration the obvious inconveniences, discomfort and embarrassments, the plaintiff had undeniably gone through, the defendant has been directed to pay to the plaintiff damages, not the N200 million the plaintiff asked for but N5 million only.”
The judge added that the issue for determination was whether the plaintiff’s evidence made out a case to justify the claims in the reliefs he sought.
“A plaintiff who seeks reliefs for violation of right is to succeed on the strength of his case and not on the weakness or absence of the defence, though he can rely on the absence of the defence to support his case,” Okeke said.
He also stated that the failure of the defendant to enter a defence in the case further proves that the plaintiff was right.
“The defendant, who was afforded the opportunity, failed to file a statement of defence contradicting the plaintiff’s statement of claim, or lead evidence in challenge to the claims; it means he has admitted the facts.
“Unless the court does not believe in the evidence or sees any reason in contrary in law, it reserves a duty to act on such.
“The defendant failed to place any evidence on the other scale of balance; there is nothing against which the plaintiff’s evidence can be weighed.”
“In every wrong, there must be a remedy. To vindicate the plaintiff’s right which has been violated in the forth going circumstance by the defendant, the plaintiff shall be awarded damages based on the discretion of the court,” he said.
The highly anticipated Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, has passed the second reading at the floor of the Nigerian Senate.
The bill was subsequently referred to the senate committee on petroleum (upstream and downstream) for more legislative work.
Chairman of the senate committee on petroleum (upstream), Tayo Alasoadura, who led debate on the bill, recalled that the PIB was first introduced in 2008, but that it was not passed in previous administrations of the national assembly due to certain hindrances.
He pointed out that the bill aims to make the Nigerian oil and gas sector more efficient, by creating stronger institutions and by promoting transparency in the administration of petroleum resources in the country.
Alasoadura said the bill was part of the efforts being made to reform Nigeria’s petroleum industry, adding that it would take care of most of the ills in the sector.
He said: “This bill provides for the unbundling of the NNPC into two independent entities, which are the National Petroleum Company, NPC, and National Asset Management Company.
“It also provides for the establishment of a single petroleum regulatory commission which will focus mainly on regulating the industry.
“The poor performance of the NNPC is a major concern. The commercialization of the corporation and its splitting into two entities is for more efficiency and to enhance performance.”
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had in November 2015 pledged that the 8th Senate would break the jinx and pass the long-awaited PIB in order to stimulate the country’s economy.
According to Saraki, “attempts in the past to reform the industry through the PIB have not been able to go full circle for variety of reasons.”
“This jinx, he said, would be broken as the senate was already working closely with the executive towards getting the bill passed as soon as possible,” he said.
Earlier in June, when oil workers under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, threatened to go on strike, they listed failure to pass the PIB as part of the grievances.
Rivers state Chairman of the association, Chika Onuegbu was then quoted as saying: “Since the year 2000, the government has been promising to reform the oil sector, to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, but till date, it has been motion without movement.
“The only thing they succeeded in doing is to allocate oil blocs to cronies and the masses are suffering.”
Eight new private universities have been approved by the Federal Government.
Minister of state for education, Anthony Onwuka, made this known while addressing state house correspondents at the end of Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting
Onwuka stated that the Ministry of Education had sought for approval following the recommendations of the National Universities Commission, NUC.
The universities include: Anchor University, Ayobo, Lagos; Arthur Jarvis Akpabuyo University, Calabar, Cross River; Clifford University, Owerinta, Abia and Coal City University, Enugu.
Others are: Crown Hill University, Kwara; Dominican University, Ibadan, Oyo; Kola Daisy University, also in Ibadan; and Legacy University, Okija, Anambra State.
Onwuka said the new universities were issued three years provisional license and would be mentored by older universities.
According to the Minister of State, Coal city University will be mentored by the University of Nigeria Nsukka; Anchor University by the University of Lagos, Clifford University by the University of Agriculture, Umudike, and the two new universities in Oyo State – Kola Daisy and Dominican universities by the University of Ibadan.
Jarvis University will be mentored by the University of Calabar; Legacy University, Okija, will be mentored by the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, while Crown Hill University will be mentored by the University of Ilorin.
The Zamfara State High court has fixed November 29 and 30 for the continuation of hearing in the N1 billion alleged fraud case involving former Governor of the state, Ahmed Yerima.
Yerima had been arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, before Justice Bello Shinkafi, on a 19-count charge of misappropriation of a N1billion loan meant for the repair of a collapsed dam and the compensation of the victims.
The ICPC alleged that Yerima had diverted N385.5million and various other sums from the said loan, thereby contravening Section 22(5) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
Yerima was granted bail in the sum of N100 million and two sureties who must own landed properties worth N150million, but since then, the case could not continue due to Justice Shinkafi’s ill–health, prompting the ICPC to apply for the transfer of the case to another judge.
At the resumed hearing, before the new trial judge Bello Gummi, the ICPC presented its first witness in the trial in the person of Abdulrazak Abdulkadir, an agent in the Financial Investigation Unit, FIU, of the anti-corruption agency.
Lead prosecution counsel, Christiana Onuogu, leading several other ICPC Lawyers, during the examination-in-chief, led the witness to present about 15 exhibits in the case against the former governor.
However, the defence counsel prayed the court for adjournment in line with the provision of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution to enable him study the volumes of documents tendered by the prosecution team.
Consequently, Justice Gummi adjourned the case to November 29 and 30, for cross- examination of the prosecution witness and continuation of hearing.
Thousands of South Koreans have been protesting on the streets of Central Seoul, the country’s capital, calling for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye.
There have been many allegations against the president in recent times but the tipping point that led to the mass protests was the emergence of a woman named Choi Soon-sil, a personal friend of the president.
Choi’s personal relationship with President Park has long been known, dating back around 40 years, however, she came under the spotlight following a string of political graft allegations.
Rumours spread that Choi – who has no official position in the government – had been secretly advising the President on all matters, ranging from her fashion choices to policies on North Korea.
One of South Korea’s local media outlets reported it had discovered a tablet PC left behind by Choi, which contained nearly 200 confidential state documents, including 44 of the president’s speeches.
Under growing speculation that the President’s friend was leading the country behind the scenes, President Park apologised earlier this week over the controversy and acknowledged she sought Choi’s counsel and shared certain internal documents with her in the process.
Since then, calls for the president’s resignation have only intensified nationwide, with the latest poll on Tuesday showing her approval ratings has dropped to an all-time low of 10 per cent.
“This is a failed democracy,” said Jeong Jin-wook, who came out to protest with his wife and four-year-old son.
“We democratically voted in Park Geun-hye but she’s not our president.
Another protester, Lee Young-ha, a young college student who came to the protest with her friends said: “I have to express my anger and I couldn’t just sit at home and do nothing.”
Choi is accused of embezzling millions of public money, as well as using her influence as a presidential confidant for private donations.
She is also suspected of using her influence to get her daughter preferential treatment at one of South Korea’s top universities.
Although chants for the president to resign were rampant, many in the crowd also expressed concerns that without a thorough, transparent investigation, they would not be able to root out the problems facing the nation and ensure they will never happen again.
Analysts suggest that if Ms Park resigned or was impeached, there would be a leadership vacuum, which could ultimately hurt the country — especially because it would be more beneficial for the opposition to let Ms Park ride out the rest of her presidency as a humiliated, lame duck leader in order to gain the upper hand in next year’s election.
In an attempt to clean up the situation, President Park has sacked the country’s Prime Minister as well as other top cabinet members and close aides.
Meanwhile, South Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for Choi who has been in detention since Monday.
She is officially being accused of abuse of authority and attempted fraud.
Eight banks have also been raided in connection with the controversy.
Security agents were forced to use tear gas to disperse members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, who gathered at the Complex of the National Assembly as well as the Federal Government Secretariat in Abuja.
The protesters were calling for the release of the leader of the Movement, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and other members of the Shiite sect being held in government custody.
El-Zakzaky has remained in what security officials described as “protective custody” since after a clash between the Shiite group and soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna State, in December 2015.
The clash led to the death of hundreds of members of the IMN, while some of the leaders of the sect, including El-Zakzaky, were arrested and are believed to be held in the headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS.
The Shiite leader, through his counsel, Femi Falana, had sued the federal government asking for N2 billion in damages for “violations of his fundamental human rights.”
Falana argued that the Islamic cleric was not allowed access to anyone, including his family members, lawyers and doctors.
Ayodeji Ibitoye, an operative in the legal services department of the DSS, said in affidavit deposed on behalf of the federal government that Zakzaky’s detention was a proactive measure to forestall a similar incident that made the Boko Haram sect turn violent in 2009.
He stated that the FG believes that if the Zakzaky – who is the leader of one of the largest Islamic groups in the country – was allowed to be killed as contained in the intelligence report, the country may again be plunged into another Boko Haram-like crisis.
“Zakzaky was evacuated to the medical facility of the service where he is being attended to by the best doctors and his treatment has gulped millions of naira at the expense of the state,” the affidavit read.
Recall that the Kaduna State government, last month, proscribed the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, describing it as an unlawful group.
The Senate has mandated the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC, to hold the Rivers State National Assembly re-run elections on or before December 10.
The lawmakers threatened to suspend sitting if INEC fails to conduct the polls.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, moved the motion during plenary on Wednesday.
“This motion is out of a need for every state to be part of the government,” he said.
“INEC has failed and refused to conduct rerun elections into the senate and House of Representatives in the Rivers state.
“I, therefore, urge the senate to ask INEC to conduct the elections by December 10, failure of which the senate will suspend plenary pending the time the elections are conducted.”
Contributing to the motion, the Senate leader, Ali Ndume, criticised INEC for the many inconclusive elections that have been witnessed in the country lately.
He supported the call for the Rivers re-run election to be conducted as soon as possible especially given the importance of the state in the economy of Nigeria.
He said: “You can imagine we are about to discuss PIB (Petroleum Industry Bill), and there are no members from Rivers state.
“We have a new leadership at INEC now, but we know the history; Inconclusive elections after inconclusive elections and suspension.
“So we ask that elections should take place in Rivers state.”
The senate, thereafter, resolved to suspend its sittings if the election was not held by December 10 as stated by INEC.
INEC had always cited insecurity as the reason for not holding the re-run elections in Rivers State.
Thousands of South Africans are protesting in the streets of Pretoria, the country’s administrative capital, calling for the resignation of President Jacob Zuma, who has been enmeshed in scandals that critics say are undermining the country’s democracy.
The protests came as the opposition called for the release of a report about allegations that a business family linked to Zuma sought to influence some Cabinet post selections to benefit its own business interests.
Some of the protesters are holding “Zuma must go” posters and chanting “fees must go” in response to unrest at universities around the country where students are demanding free education.
The possibility of new revelations of alleged wrongdoing at top levels of the South African government is likely to increase pressure on Zuma, who apologized earlier this year after the Constitutional Court said he flouted the constitution in a scandal over more than $20 million in state funds used to upgrade his rural home.
Zuma eventually paid back more than $500,000, an amount determined by the national treasury.
In a separate scandal, the Director of the National Prosecuting Authority this week dropped fraud charges against Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, who is also seen as Zuma’s right hand man.
On Wednesday, business executives, religious leaders and others gathered in a Pretoria cathedral to demand that Zuma quit.
They said alleged corruption linked to the president was undermining one of Africa’s biggest economies, which is experiencing weak growth, as well as a constitution that was crafted after the end of white minority rule in 1994.
“It is not possible to turn the situation around” as long as Zuma remains president, said Sipho Pityana of Save South Africa, a coalition of groups that say they seek to protect the constitution.
Separate rallies were also held in Pretoria by South Africa’s two biggest opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters.
The ruling African National Congress party, which took power after the end of apartheid, lost several key municipalities in local elections in August, partly because of public dissatisfaction with the president.
Zuma has not commented this week on growing calls for him to resign.
He is scheduled to chair a forum in Harare on Thursday with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Nearly two months after earth tremors shook some communities in Kaduna State, residents still await help from the government amid fears of health consequences of the natural disaster.
By Augustine Agbo
The people of Kwoi in Kaduna State, which was recently hit by earth tremors, now live in fear over the safety of the various sources of drinking water in the community.
A 2.8 magnitude earth tremor hit the sleepy town of Kwoi and its environs in Jaba local government area of Kaduna State on Sunday, September 11, impacting about 300 houses and forcing scores of residents to flee.
The people now suspect that they may have been drinking unsafe water as their sewage lines may have been affected by the tremor, forcing faeces to leak into wells, boreholes, ponds, rivers and other water sources in the area.
Our reporter who just returned from a tour of the affected area said that many residents complained that the water they drink now has a funny, sour taste and fear that the tremor might also have negative lasting impacts on the people’s health.
The residents of Kwoi and other surrounding communities relied heavily on underground water for consumption. This has worried many who think that they might be at risk of falling sick in the near future from possible contaminated water.
Speaking to our reporter last week, the Interim Chairman, Jaba local government area, Ben Kure, expressed concerns over the possible health implications of the tremor.
He said that many questions needed to be answered and called on relevant agencies to take prompt action to determine the damage done by the tremors.
“What happened to our water system both underground and surface and what is the state of our sewage system”, he asked.
“The cracks could have affected several soakaways releasing toxic wastes into the underground waters”, he said.
Also speaking with the www.icirnigeria.org at the palace of the paramount ruler, the secretary, Jaba Traditional Council, Makama Daniel Shehu, expressed fears over the future health of the people.
Shehu said that many people in the community had expressed fears over their health to the palace.
Cracked walls in a residential building
The tremors have left cracks in many houses in the impacted communities forcing many to relocate, while those who remain live in constant fear of their homes collapsing on their heads, in case of future occurrences.
When the first tremor occurred, residents were shocked and traumatised as they had never witnessed anything like that before.
The second tremor occurred in the early hours of the next day and was stronger, sending waves of panic throughout Kwoi town and neighboring communities such as Nok, Sabuzo, Gidan Kundi and Bita Ro.
The traumatised residents fled the town in droves even as the elders of Kwoi, led by the Kpop Ham, Danladi Gyet Maude and his lieutenants did their best to provide explanations for the sudden phenomena.
The frightened residents believed that angry gods who had turned against the people because of their iniquities caused the tremors.
But experts who visited the town explained to the people that the tremor was a result of the dynamism of the earth’s movement and that it is not new to Nigeria.
Emergency response team put the number of houses affected at 300 with many collapsing and others left with severe cracks. Most of the houses affected have toilets with their cesspit tanks that were affected in the course of the vibration.
Although no life was lost in the process, the people still live in fear as more vibrations continue to hit the agrarian town.
A destroyed mud building
Local residents find it hard to believe that what happened in Kwoi was an earth tremor; many told the www.icirnigeria.org that it was an earthquake even as the frightened residents recounted their experiences.
Isa Musa who was at home when the first tremor occurred said that he felt the vibration at about 11am when the ground shook tremendously.
“I was at home, immediately the ground shook, I ran out of the house only to find lots of people leaving their homes and worship places. It came like a thunder from beneath the earth. It also sounded like something coming from the nearby mountains.
“It repeated again at 1pm and another at 2pm, 3pm and by that time, most residents were already rattled in consternation.
“I was confused too with many thoughts running through my mind including the end of the world”, Musa said.
For Zainab Bulus, the fear in her children made her situation worst. She explained that the big tremor hit them when all of them were sleeping.
“We thought it was a building collapse as the tremor started in the early hours of Monday, my children woke to the shock and they started crying, I held all of them together assuring them that they are not dying.
“We couldn’t sleep in our homes again as we all ran out to avoid our building from falling on us”, the terrified housewife said.
Isiaka Salawu, an auto mechanic who had resumed at his workshop that fateful morning said the sound came from the huge rock few meters from his mechanic workshop.
According to him, the vibration from the third tremor led to the collapsed of a shop beside him.
“I was shocked to my bones, didn’t know where to run to as buildings cracked, some collapsed. I thought of running out of town but was not certain what lies in front. We thought we were about to be swallowed by the earth”, Salawu explained.
The Walin Jaba and District Head of Fada-Kwoi who spoke on behalf of the Kpop Ham of Jaba, corroborated the story of several residents.
He said the people had absorbed the shocks from the earlier tremors until 3.00 am on Monday morning when a more powerful vibration hit the town at a time most people were asleep.
By the time the second vibration hit the town the same morning, the whole town became apprehensive of the situation and immediately trooped out to the various palaces in the community.
“They were really scared, traumatised and desperate for answers to the thousands of questions asked.
“I was frightened too and didn’t know what to do at that time, I had to summon courage to go out and meet with them.
“I had to address them citing the name of God and that God could create anything and from my knowledge of Geography, I could explain the phenomenon”, he said.
Conflicting signal on relief efforts
More than one month after the first tremor hit Kwoi and its environs, the affected people in the communities have not received much help from the authorities as they try to rebuild their homes and return to normal life.
Much expected relief materials are yet to reach the affected persons leaving many of them to resort to self-help.
When our reporter visited the town recently, not a few of the residents lamented the absence of relief material promised by both the federal and the Kaduna State government.
Before visiting Kwoi, www.icirnigeria.org spoke with the Zonal Coordinator North West of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Musa Illalah in Kaduna who said the agency took a joint assessment with the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, NGSA, and so far no recommendations has been made on whether to evacuate the residents of the affected areas.
He said he would not pre-empt the report from various government agencies on the tremor until they are made available.
In the area of relief material, the Zonal Coordinator said his office had made recommendations to the headquarters of NEMA but the bottlenecks created by the introduction of the Treasury Single Account, TSA, is partly responsible for the delay in getting relief items.
Illalah did not give any idea as to when the people will get the much needed relief material from the federal government.
On his part, the Executive Secretary, Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency, Ezekiel Baba Karik, claimed that the state government had provided some relief material for the affected persons.
Karik said the situation is not as bad as the media had painted it as the cracks were not fundamental.
“We are not relenting on our own, we are working with NEMA and other government agencies to provide for the people.”
“The state took 50 bundles of roofing zinc and 150 bags of cement to the people as relief material”, Karik said.
He also claimed the agency has emergency response teams in the 23 local government areas of the state. He also stated that life is back to normal in the affected communities.
But when our reporter contacted Kure, the Jaba council boss, he said that the state emergency relief agency sent only “150 bags of cement, 20 bundles of Zinc, bags of nails, 30 bags of rice and 10 bags of beans.”
Kure accused the National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, of sidelining the local council when its team visited the area for findings.
“They came to Kwoi without consulting with the custodian of the land, we are the people affected, we felt the tremor more than anyone, yet the agency just came and left.
“We only saw them on national television when their report was being presented to the public.
Makama Daniel Shehu, Secretary, Jaba Traditional Council
Makama Daniel Shehu, who spoke for the traditional ruler, also said the palace was not aware of any relief items in Kwoi.
“We are not aware of anything from SEMA and NEMA. As at this very moment, I have assisted two women with two bags of cement each to fix their damaged homes because the women are widows”, he said.
He further stated that the people of Kwoi have been leaving in fear especially those close to the mountains as they feet the vibrations more than downtown residents.
Shehu also said he saw the NASRDA report only television as the council was not availed a copy.
Rahila Bawa, a widow who had to beg for cement to fix her house after losing hope of getting anything from the government told our reporter that she had to mend her cracked homes to avoid further damages.
“I decided to fix the wall to avoid the cracks from expanding as more tremors continue to hit us. If the house collapses, I would not be able to rebuild it because I don’t have the energy any more.
“I have not received any relief material and not heard of anything like that since it happened. I am a widow and my children are not strong to assist me that’s why I went asking for assistance”, she said.
Jessica Maitama, a small business owner and a mother of four said that her house was captured in the government data but has yet to get any assistance to repair her home.
“We are grateful that our homes did not collapse on us but government cannot leave us in this state, we need help to get our homes fixed.
“My children are still in a state of shock”, she said.
Some corps members who spoke to this news website said they have been receiving frantic calls from their parents to relocate from Kwoi.
Usman Arowolo who hails from Ogun State said he had never witnessed anything like that even though he has heard of tremors in the past.
“I was very afraid that night, we had to wait for our landlord for explanations. As strangers, we didn’t know it was earth tremor, it was the following day we got the picture”, he said.
Meanwhile, reacting to the allegations made by the Jaba council chairman, the head, media and communications at NASRDA, Felix Ali said that the agency went to Kwoi to carry out its professional job which was scientific.
“We did a comprehensive report on the earth tremor and we consulted all the relevant stakeholders. We were not there to raise funds for the affected persons.
“Our responsibilities was to carry out the remote cause of the tremor”, he noted.
He further stated that the report the agency presented to the public recently was based on what its team of experts saw on ground. According to him, the Kaduna State government was given a copy.
Ali declined to make available a copy to our reporter and said that the media only got a verbal explanation.
NASRDA findings had described the Kwoi earth tremor as a mini earthquake, positing that it was not true that high magnitude earthquake could not occur in Nigeria.
The report also stated that the tremors could be attributed to the stress released from the fault system of the area.
On the health implications of a leaking sewage system, a consulting environmental health officer and former registrar, Environmental Health Officers Registration Council Of Nigeria, EHORCN, Abisike Onyekachi, was of the view that there are chances the vibration could have cracked open several septic tanks.
In a chat with our reporter in Abuja, Onyekachi observed that there is a good chance of organisms from the sewage system leaking to ground water.
If this happens, he warned that there could be consequences such as enteric diseases that could be contacted through food and water.
Onyekachi noted that since the people largely depend on underground water for survival, there could be the risk of cholera, typhoid and others in the community in the near future.
“We didn’t build our houses with a view of having earthquakes, no reinforcement was done in most homes in the country hence, the risk of leakages in situation as this”, he said.
He urged government to immediately take water samples from various sources in Jaba local government to determine its safety to avoid another disaster.
A former head, Environmental Science Education, University of Abuja, Bassey Ubom, was of the view that government must undertake a comprehensive study of the tremor.
He advocated massive education of the people to prepare them for a worse case scenario as natural disasters like tremors and quakes rarely give warnings.
Also an environmental management scientist and expert in climate change, CO2 emissions and deforestation, Mande Hosea, in a sensitisation paper to the people of Kwoi assured that what took place in the town was not an earthquake.
Hosea, a senior lecturer at the Kaduna State University, said the vibration of the earth in Kwoi was as a result of sudden release of energy in the earth’s crust that created seismic waves.
“This scenario in Kwoi and environs is an earth tremor which is of low intensity and can toss people around, shake and destroy houses with poor engineering structure.
“The perceptible shaking/vibration could occur within few seconds in a day and the situation could persist for few days.
“This tremor occurred at a place called fault zone where jagged edges of two tectonic plates grind against each other, moving in slow motion and a plate may suddenly jolt into a new position and energy released in the fault by this movement creates tremor’’, he said.
He added that fault zones cut across many parts of Nigeria linking up to the Atlantic Ocean fractures zone and it is a zone of concern as areas at the proximity of these faults zones are at risk of tremor/earthquake.
He said tremor challenges are not recent development in Nigeria, as the country has a timeline of experience from 1933, 1939, 1964, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2009 and 2016 both in the South East, West and Northern part of Nigeria.
Hosea however ruled out an earthquake happening in Nigeria as West Africa is on a stable croton not located in the zone called ring of fire.
Meanwhile, the environmental expert advised that Nigeria should always be on the alert as the system is dynamic with the change in the environment.
As a precautionary measure, he urged the people to always have in their possession flashlight and first aid kit.
That people should avoid leaving heavy objects on shelves and anchor heavy furniture, cupboards and appliances to the walls or floor.
And in the case of Tremor, he advised that people should not panic, step away to open space and stay away from things in the room that could topple over.
He further advised that in tremor situation, people should hide under a desk or table, unplug electricity cords and watch out for dangling power lines.
He said the people of Kwoi should expect aftershocks in days ahead.
Since Hosea’s issued his advice, Kwoi residents have experienced several aftershocks that has gotten residents of the communities even more frightened.
