Illegal bunkering is criminal – Asari-Dokubo

Buguma (Rivers) – A Niger Delta activist, Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, has condemned illegal oil bunkering, saying that it does not just degrade the environment but kills it.

Asari-Dokubo made the remark in an interview with newsmen in Buguma, Asari-Toru Local Government area of Rivers on Sunday.

“Illegal bunkering is criminal; it kills the environment; it kills aquaculture; it does not just degrade the environment, it kills it.”

Asari-Dokubo urged the perpetrators of such act to desist from it, saying that the people in the coastal communities were suffering from the polluted environment caused by such an act.

He urged the government to fight illegal bunkering with everything at its disposal, including the military might, in order to save the environment and its citizens.

“Go to the oil communities and see the devastation caused by the criminal act; the waters are polluted, the lands are destroyed.

“Illegal bunkering is criminal and must be stopped,“ Asari-Dokubo said.

He also criticised the amnesty given to the Niger Delta militants by the Federal Government, saying that amnesty was for convicted criminals.

He observed that the militants were not tried or convicted before they were given amnesty.

On the call for amnesty to the boko haram Islamic sect, Asari-Dokubo said since amnesty was given to the Niger Delta militants, it should also be extended to them. (NAN)