Environment, Featured
By Paul Ukpabio
FOUR communities located at Ado Odo local government of Ogun state have cried out to the government to come to their rescue as sewage chemical water has continued to pose a health hazard to their families and properties in the area.
The communities are four estates namely: Nice Estate, Peoples Estate, God’s Favour Estate and Salvation Estate. When Realnews correspondents visited the communities, they had a pathetic situation to share and they took the correspondents round on a tour showing the havoc the water had caused recently and in time past, and the wall, which the deluge of sewage chemical from C-WAY industries pulled down due to its pressure when it was released from the industry to the communities. One could see the new wall that had just been erected.
According to Adekoya Afolabi, the Vice Chairman of Nice Peoples Estate CDA, located at Ado Odo local government of Ogun state, the issue between the communities and C-WAY industries “is the water that disturbs us in this area, chemical water from CWAY industry and this has been happening since the past 10 years that I have been living here. We have approached them several times and out of all our visits, they finally sent their representative last year to come and look at the destruction that the chemical had been causing in the area. Unfortunately, their representatives came when the rains had stopped. And they couldn’t see much of the destruction and havoc that the chemical releases cause in our community. However, they promised that they would come back to render help to the community to ease the chemical water or direct it in another direction that it would not affect the environment. As it is, it is not only our community that it affects, there are other communities that are involved, but the bulk of the chemical releases from their compound, wash down to our communities, which is Nice People’s estate more.”
Bamidele Taiwo, another landlord in Nice Peoples Estate had a gory tale to tell. “We have lost two children here at different times due to that chemical water,” he said. He went further to narrate how the sewage chemical water forms a water log in Nice Peoples estate, the children’s playing ground and forcing boreholes in many compounds to collapse one after another.
“Most landlords here have had to re-do their boreholes about two or three times in the last seven years. That is because when you finish it and they release that their water, the borehole may not last two years before it collapses. What we are dealing with here is chemical waste, which is pungent and has major health hazards that one can’t even explain. Till today we can’t explain the sickness that killed those two boys, because when the rain mixes with the chemical waste, we have to wade through the flood only to find later that we develop rashes and our skin starts to itch,” he added.
Our investigation reveals that the C-WAY issue with the communities dates back as far as 2014 when Vigo was managing the place. Whenever it rains, C-WAY, it seems, uses the opportunity to release their chemical waste: A view, which was also corroborated by the residents of these communities. They open their wastewater tanks, which is in over 17 acres of land and this definitely floods into these four communities, explained another estate resident.
“At that time, Vigo himself witnessed one of such flooding when we called his attention to it. And he came with their engineers and they deliberated on what could be done to stop the flooding of our communities. Along with the estate landlords, we proposed that we build drainage which will redirect the water and which would not allow it to splutter or flow into the communities which will relieve us. The deliberation brought about a quote of N12 million which was to be shared by all the parties involved.
“Unfortunately Vigo and his team reneged on the agreement reached by them. They said N12 million was too much even when the four residential estates agreed to share the burden with them.”
But in fairness to C-WAY industries, our investigations revealed that though the company reneged on earlier agreed planned payment to the residents, they, however, offered them granite, blocks, and sand which the residents said was not enough, but which they immediately used to do a palliative measure as the need was urgent!
The communities, we also learned, received the materials, raised cash, and quickly did the needful. But the work that was done was only meant to be temporary and re-visited annually with an upgrade.
Unfortunately, Vigo left and the new general manager, who replaced him, turned a deaf ear to the plight of the residents.
And since then, the residents have been bearing their burden, struggling and forcing themselves and their families to accept the health hazards associated with the chemical waste as their lot in life. But this year, the rains have been heavy and the destructions massive, so at last they cried out.
However, all efforts to get to speak to the spokesperson of C-WAY industries were abortive.
Photos by Biodun Adeyewa
– Jan. 25, 2021 @ 17:28 GMT |
Tags: Communities cry out as chemical waste from C-WAY industries wreaks havoc
