The dumping of waste, alleged to be toxic has pitted an indigenous company, Ebenco Global Services, against a section of Koko community in Delta State. S’South Regional Editor, Shola O’Neil, who recently visited the town reports on the controversy and why it has pitted the community against itself.
KOKO, the historic Itsekiri town and headquarters of Warri North local government area, Delta State, has again grabbed national headline for yet another uncomplimentary reason. Like almost 30 years ago, the story that is taking the town to global media sphere is the alleged deposition of huge quantity of waste materials alleged to be poisonous and carcinogenic.
The once bustling port town on the fringe of the Benin River, Koko contributed to the fame and prosperity of the then Midwest Region (later defunct Bendel State), rivalling neighbours such as Sapele and Warri as a centre of commerce.
Koko has a proud and long history of resistance; it is the land of the famous Chief Nnana Olomu, one of the foremost nationalists of the region, who defied the British, withstood them, paid the price but kept his pride.
Its indigenes pride the sleepy town as the centre of the civilization and commercial activities of the 19th century. Pa JOS Ayomike, famous historian and scion of chief descendant of Nana, writes about its history with gusto, plumb and irrepressible fervour.
But no fanciful prose can hide the fate that has befallen this historic town. From the height of being one of the towns touted to lead the industrial revolution of Delta State, to one receding to its infamous past and unwanted fame, the latest piece of bad news has hit the town hard. And the spectre of the sad incident and tragic memories of 1988 now defy the beautiful sky, fresh riverside peace, casting a dark pall over the town.
The lost golden era
Abandoned warehouses, mostly turned into churches, are the relics of what was once a nostalgic reminder of the golden era that has been obliterated by the mistake of an innocent man who fell prey to a cunning Italian fraudster and merchant of death. Three decades ago thousands of poisonous chemicals were abandoned in the town by unscrupulous European businessmen. The incident challenged the legacies of the renowned tribal chief and first Niger Deltan nationalist (Nana) to be the memory conjured when Koko is mentioned.
When our reporter visited the town last Wednesday, the languid air around the sleepy town was undisturbed. Residents moved about their normal businesses; industrial warehouses turned churches were opened; pastors and clergymen were doing their things either preaching prosperity and miracle to members or invoking fire to consume their “enemies and demons”.
Businesses on the street corners went on undisturbed. Traders sit behind their wares; the numerous boli (roasted plantain) sellers attended to customers, who ate the local delicacy soaked in bright palm oil and roasted ice-fish. For N200, our reporter ate his fill, a ‘plate’, consisting of two giant sized plantain fingers and scubia fish soaked in the tasty sauce made from onion and pepper, while listening to local gist.
Uduak (not her real name), the boli seller, told our reporter that her search for the greener pastures took her from Akwa-Ibom to Koko. Even if her sojourn hadn’t yielded much financial gain, she seemed contented and very happy in her surroundings. She bantered with her customers, one of whom asked her when (President) Buhari was coming for his regular launch of Boli.
“Ha! oga if Buhari never chop this boli he nor de start work o,” one garrulous worker of a construction company in the town said in response to the puzzled look on our reporter’s face.
The banters and laughter made the tasty meal even more enjoyable and everybody seemed happy with their lives.
But underneath the façade of calm was the fear of the unknown. Several weeks ago, rumour started swirling that huge consignment of toxic industrial wastes had been deposited – and still arriving in the town. The rumour got those old enough to remember the infamous incident of 1988 panicky; but the younger ones some of whom work for the ‘culprit’ company went about their daily activities.
A cloud of smoke
It was gathered that several weeks before our report, the report of the incident was presented to the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli, who ordered an investigation. The Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, under the leadership of Edward Ekpoko Esq., was also briefed on it.
Yet, the Secretary of Koko Community, Mr Eric Mcgrey, who was contacted on the scare, said he was not even aware of it. He turned down our reporter’s request for a meeting, stressing, “I don’t know what you are talking about” before abruptly hanging up the phone on February 22.
A few meters from the boli shop, on Atuwatse II road, an enclosed compound housing an insipid looking company, with a sign announcing ‘Ebenco Global Link Ltd’ seamlessly blended with its environment on the waterfront. But beyond dozens of trucks that ingress and exit the premises, not much is known about the activities going on therein.
Workers at the company’s sites directed all enquiries to their oga. Not even the company’s website or Facebook page provided any insight other than the proclamation that it “is a leading company in the provision of waste management and environmental services in Nigeria.”
Inside, cauldron puffed out billows of smoke that mix with the riverside air and escape into the atmosphere. Dozens of tanker trucks filed in and out of the premises. They come in empty but leave filled with loads of material suspected to be sludge and other wastes from oil facilities in the area. Heavy-duty equipment could be seen loading sharp sand from a barge berthed on the jetty into tipper trucks.
Several signboards in the town touted Ebenco Global Link Ltd, Koko as a company that manages waste: “Waste Management is our Concern’, it reads.
But how Ebenco is managing waste is a source of concern to some leaders and inhabitants of the area in the past months, especially to the Itsekiri Environment and Human Rights Group, which warned that the company could be unleashing another deadly cocktail of poisonous chemicals into the environment and endangering the lives of inhabitants.
Their concern is shared by Dr Maxwell Iwegbue of the Department of Chemistry, Delta State University Abraka, who frowned at improper disposal of the waste. “Even wastes from peoples’ houses are not safe, but waste from emanating from petroleum and hydrocarbon activities are established carcinogens.”
Various sources said the company has what is similar to a modular refinery at its jetty. From where petroleum products are extracted from sludge and slurry brought in at night. The wastes are transported to another of the company’s facility where the only treatment it gets is burial under the earth.
The use of incinerator to burn off the waste is majorly another source of concern to residents of the area, who complained about soot blackening the air they breathe, resulting in various ailments. But their grievances are reportedly muffled by thugs working or in the payroll of the company and the fear of prominent local politician who is said to have a stake in the company.
“Every night, they begin to burn some things and smoke would cover everywhere and people would sometimes wake up choking and suffocating,” a teenage boy who was studying while minding his parent’s shop, told our reporter.
Everybody in Koko knows the owner of the company, simply identified as Ebenezer or Oluwagbemiga (?), a reticent middle-aged man said to be an indigene of neighbouring Ondo State. One of the young men at the waterside where his jetty is located told our reporter that the man is an ‘Odon’ (very influential, highly connected businessman) and stupendously rich.
“He is very wealthy and connected,” another said, adding that Ebenezer’s business interests are as diverse as his allies. “Top oil industry operators, naval officials, security operatives in the Niger Delta know and relate with him and he does all things.”
Around Koko, everybody knows the man; some speak of his generosity and his influence in the local economy and politics of the area, while others do not agree with his modus operandi.
An Itsekiri activist and indigene of the community, Mr David Odeli, revealed that the company has staff strength of over 100 workers, most of who are locals.
“There is no doubt that his company is contributing to the economy of Koko and its environs that is why we are advising people to be very cautious about anything that can create problem and scare away investors who can help mop up the teeming youths from the streets,” Odeli added.
Our independent finding revealed some of the workers are deployed to an unmarked property located along the Koko-Ugbenu road. The site sits on a massive land, which is fenced off for security or from prying eyes. A cursory look at the yard revealed an innocuous looking scrap yard, dilapidated and mangled pieces of cargo containers, unserviceable trucks and septic tanks.
The facility is located near a new government school around the Uduaghan Layout, in Koko. The only indications of any activity in the premises are rings of smoke of heavy equipment dancing into the burning air. This can be seen from the expressway and other parts of the growing exurb parts of Koko.
Either by design or fluke, the façade of scrap metals screened equipment and other activities going on in the deep of the massive compound; bulldozers are opening up the earth. The chasms they create are filled with tons of sludge and slurry, which are then mixed with sand and covered up.
The Itsekiri Environmental and Human Rights Group claimed that the sludge are toxic, carcinogenic and harmful to the health of people living around the area, especially pupils of a nearby primary school at Egbelemeji Junction, which borehole water could be contaminated.
Chairman of Warri North LGA, Francis Maku, rose to the company’s defence and debunked this. The council boss slammed those behind it, insisting that there is no toxic waste in Koko’, much to the exasperation of activists and those calling for independent inquiries into the nature of the waste and how Ebenco is handling them.
“The Chairman’s outburst, without getting a proper test on the materials, is strange and condemnable because he should be on the side of the citizens. But the interest here seems to be with the (alleged) polluter,” one source said.
Initial report, which claimed that the wastes are shipped from the Chevron Nigeria Limited’s tank farm in Escravos turned out to be untrue. Esimaje Brikinn, General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, said, “CNL is aware of reports of alleged toxic waste said to have been dumped in Koko area of Delta State by a company; the company is not a contractor to CNL and does not provide waste management services to CNL.”
The company insisted that it has a world-class system for managing its operation and waste.
Our investigation revealed that the materials might be sourced from different locations, including an NNPC subsidiary in the area. The materials are transported by barges along the Benin River to Koko, where they are received at Ebenco’s jetty and trucked to the ‘scrap yard’ on the highway, after a crude refining process is used to remove petroleum products.
The black tar journey
The truck’s journey from Ebenco jetty leaves a trail of black, tar-like droppings on their trails to the final destination.
Efforts of our reporter to get into the company were fruitless; the company’s workers seemed to have a mandate to deny visitors, especially journalists from entering.
When our reporter accessed the facility through another property in the area, a bulldozer was seen covering up a large pit with slurry and sludge before topping up the opening with sand.
Ebenezer, in a telephone chat with our reporter that lasted nearly six minutes on February 14, claimed that he was a victim of blackmail. He said, “This is mere sludge and it is not waste, but wealth to us because we are recycling them. How can we bury what we deem as wealth?” he queried.
His claim of recycling the material was disputed by environmentalist and a federal lawmaker from the area, who asserted that the company lacked the capacity or equipment to recycle waste of such nature.
“At best, what they do is to burn off some of those hydrocarbon wastes after extracting whatever they can. The company cannot recycle from that facility there in Koko,” an activist said.
Ebenezer described those opposed to his company as disgruntled, stressing that he has the support of larger numbers of the community leaders. Later, in a paid advert in a national newspaper, he alleged that those antagonizing his company were using toxic waste as subterfuge to seek contract from the Nigeria Ecological fund.
He accused his accusers of “witch-hunt and blackmail,” but refused to take subsequent calls to his telephone lines to expand on his cry of “campaign of calumny” and “deliberate attempt to ridicule our esteemed company”.
Those opposed to the company include the IEHRG who took their protest to the Ministry of Environment and demanded a probe of the company’s operation.
Mr Tony Ede, a retired staff of Central Bank of Nigeria and a former journalist with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), is head of the group. He covered the infamous incident of 1988 and warned that the latest saga might be equally devastating to the environment and people of Koko. The position confirmed an exclusive report by The Nation newspaper on February 16, with the headline, ’30 years later, another toxic scare hits Koko’.
Mr Brown Dibofun, a member of the group, told our reporter that in spite of denials by the company and its agents, “scientific analysis conducted on soil, storm water and slurry as well as the environmental report prepared there from by Vertical Options Global Services Limited, showed that the slurry samples from the Ebenco Global Link dumpsite are toxic and carcinogenic, not environmentally friendly and are hazardous.”
Some of these materials allegedly found include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), mercury, iron, chromium and other elements, which were said to be at a level that is unsafe for human. These materials are similar to the content of the toxic waste deposited in the town nearly 30 years ago.
A toxicologist, who asked not to be quoted in this report because he works for a government agency and is not allowed to speak with the press, stated that if true, residents of Koko are in danger of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and deformation of foetuses.
“It is very dangerous and a simple look at research result and studies or merely searching Wikipedia, will confirm that poly-aromatic carbon can lead to skin, organs and stomach cancers. To answer your question, ‘yes these are carcinogenic chemicals that should not be allowed to be disposed off indiscriminately,” the chemical expert added.
The lawmaker representing Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Assembly, Mr Daniel Reyenieju, called for proper analysis of samples from the site. Reyenieju’s motion for the investigation of the incident was being debating at the House when this report was being written.
He told The Nation on Sunday: “I don’t want to be sentimental about it. The sludge is not well treated and my position is that it must be well treated. It must not be allowed to start poisoning people, the incident of 1988 must not be allowed to reoccur.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Secretary of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, Mr Amorighoye Mene, called for the investigation and prosecution of the management of the company, if they are found guilty. “This is not an allegation that cannot be swept under the carpet.”
“It must be investigated and if found guilty should be punished to serve as deterrent to anybody who puts profit above health of human beings. To allow such things to continue will be to encourage illegality.
“We are mindful of health implications and encouraging other people to engage in such practices. Whatever claim he is making on ecological fund, is of no consequence. We don’t care about the politics, what we care about is the well being of the people in that community,” Mene added.
Response to stakeholders’ concerns and newsmen inquiries from Ebenco has so far been limited to the scanty advert of Friday, February 24, which attacked The Nation’s report and made its own allegations and castigations.
In a veiled swipe at the IEHRG, the statement described its outcry as “deliberate ploy and plot for the writers to use Ebenco Global Services as a bait to apply for cleanup and/remediation job from the Ecological Funds, Federal Ministry of Environment.”
In a swift response, Mr Brown Dibofun, an environmental consultant, said Ebenco advertorial smirks of ignorance and lack of knowledge of the working of the ministry and agencies.
“First, the Ecological Fund does not award contract for private pollution; the law is that the pollutant (Ebenco in this circumstance) is responsible for cleanup and remediation of polluted site. Therefore, the idea of looking for contract does not rise and merely shows how uneducated they are,” Dibofun added.
He lambasted the company for trying to intimidate those who are genuinely concerned about the impact of those who care about the environment that it is allegedly destroying.
Developing cold feet
Speaking in the same vein, a source in the community who spoke on condition of anonymity said Ebenezer’s boasted support in the community was not as altruistic as it seemed. “Some people are doing it for their selfish interests; others have people who benefit from the company and so are unwilling to speak up against what could be harmful to the environment.”
There were also concerns that those worried about the waste, are afraid to speak out because of backlash from beneficiaries. An elderly resident suddenly backed out of a planned interview with our reporter after he was cautioned. He had earlier said he would open up on how fume and black soot from Ebenco was suffocating residents at night and making life unbearable for them.
Nevertheless, the Federal Ministry of Environment and its counterpart in the state have ordered investigations into the incident. Commissioner of Environment, Mr Victor Nani, who led a team to the site, said the visit was to collect “samples of the waste for further laboratory analysis”, adding that the result would be made available to the public.
It was also gathered that NOSDRA and NESREA had also taken samples for laboratory analysis, but the results might take weeks before they would be released.
Despite the flurry of activities, the company has continued with its activities. Specifically, before Nani’s visit this week, there had been complaints that the slurry and sludge waste were still being earthed. Photographs taken by our reporter and others by individuals shortly before the verification confirmed this, raising fears that the company was trying to obliterate and cover its ‘toxic’ track.
IEHRG claimed that over 100 tipper loads of sharp and laterite sands were deployed to the facilities between when the story of the waste dumping was first reported and when environmental agencies official started arriving in the town to obtain samples from site.
Nevertheless, Dr Iwegbue warned that the use of sandfill by the company to bury the waste is very unsafe and cannot guarantee that the toxic materials won’t pollute sources of water. “Wastes emanating from petroleum, hydrocarbon activities are established carcinogens.”
“The oil companies usually generate their own power and it is possible that they have transformers and compressors, which wastes are very dangerous. So when they are burying them in places that are waterlogged the implication is that it will contaminate surface and underground waters and pose severe danger for inhabitants”
He said the use of land fill is only effective when properly done, stressing that the linings of surrounding walls must be between seven and 10 feet in thickness so that the wastes cannot seep out, adding, “even at that, there should be constant monitoring.”
Meanwhile, Mr Ede has expressed concern about alleged “huge spending by and desperate cover up attempts by the company”. He urged federal and state governments to take up “responsibility to the people of Koko.”
“The irony of the matter is that some Koko community leaders and residents are aiding and abetting and supporting Ebenco in the cover up of the criminal dumping because they are on the payroll of the company and its backer.”
He lamented that the company’s facility had not been sealed up by the relevant government agencies and expressed concern that the alleged cover-up plot could extend to officials of these agencies.
“The company has tipped tons and tons of sand and laterite on the dumpsite and used bulldozers to grind the waste to the ground. The intention is to create an impression that no toxic waste dump because the pit has been covered with sand,” Dibofun added.
Amidst the dogfight over the waste, the silence of some elected officials at the various level, except Reyenieju, who has been speaking out, is a source of anguish for some residents.
“We have a local government chairman, who has taken his stand with the company, we also have a member in the House of Assembly and councillors and others, why is nobody speaking out?” Abiodun, a Lagos-based Koko indigene lamented.
