Onyedi Igwe, Port Harcourt
The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has received a list of all illegal refineries in the state from the chairmen of the 23 local
Government areas in the state.
The Governor who intensified the onslaught against the illegal refinery operators ordered the council chairmen to destroy all such refineries linked to the soot in Port Harcourt and environs.
Wike spoke when he met with the council chairmen, the Commissioner of Police and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC) at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Last week Wike had threatened to sack any council boss who refused to join his campaign against the illegal refinery operators.
The Governor who is intensifying the action to rid Rivers State of the illegal refineries asked all the government area chairmen to hire bulldozers and destroy all identified illegal refineries.
Wike who asked the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Eboka Friday, to provide security to the chairmen to flush out the refineries also promised financial support for the operations.
According to him, since the state government intensified the fight against illegal refinery operators, primarily responsible for the soot, the air quality in parts of the Rivers State had improved remarkably.
Wike had earlier issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the 23 chairmen to provide him a comprehensive list of all illegal refinery sites and their operators within their respective jurisdiction or face resignation.
“I will not relent in this fight. And all of you should hire bulldozers. All those areas where the illegal refinery sites are in the bush, in the creek, clear the place. Government will give you some money to go and hire bulldozers to go and clear the sites so that they will know we are serious.
“ One thing I want to say and which is very clear, and like everybody knows, I am not against anybody making money. But, we cannot allow people to make money, while others are dying.” He said
Wike who said that the cartel behind the illicit trade could compromise security operatives warned that he would personally visit the Inspector-General of Police, the Commandant-General of the NSCDC and the Chief of Army Staff in Abuja, to report any of their personnel found to become colluding with criminals.