Some traditional rulers in Bayelsa State have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to come to the aid of their impoverished communities.

The Bayelsa chiefs’ appeal to NDDC over dead fishes was contained in a letter dated April 27, 2020, signed by 29 royal fathers and addressed to the President through the office of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godwsill Akpabio.

The disturbed paramount rulers also sent a copy of the letter to the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC led by Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei.

The chiefs, under the auspices of “Paramount Rulers Forum for Oil Host Communities in the Salt Water Belt, Mainstream (Central) Niger Delta”, lamented that the combined effects of COVID-19 lockdown order and massive death of fishes caused by toxic chemical wastes discharged into the waters are causing biting hunger in their communities.

The letter read in part, “Our purpose of bringing this problem to your Excellency was informed by the ongoing massive ecological disaster in our fishing environment for more than one month now by the activities of multinational oil corporations.

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“It is seriously and negatively impacting us as riverine people that earn a living by fishing.

“We are at the same time suffering the harsh impacts of COVID-19 lockdown order by the government.

“Your Excellency should help us intervene and direct the NDDC to come to the rescue of oil host communities who are going through hardship.”

Chief Perekebina Alfred, coordinator of the paramount rulers’ forum, weekend in Yenagoa said over N2bn had been estimated as a panacea towards alleviating the suffering of the people.

Alfred, who is the paramount ruler of Koromotoru in Ekeremor Local Government Area, pleaded with the President to save the people from the starvation imposed on them by COVID-19 lockdown directives and the large-scale death of fishes due to chemical pollution of their waters.

He, however, explained that the forum was delighted at the ongoing forensic audit of the commission, noting that the exercise would help to clean-up the agency and reposition it for effective service delivery to the people of the region.

Vanguard News Nigeria.