Illegal Refineries: House Of Reps Set To Probe JTF

The House of Representatives is set to set up an adhoc committee to look into the activities of the Joint Task Force operating in the Niger Delta region as regards illegal refineries operating in the region.

Part of the dictates of the committee is also to probe the activities of the Nigerian Agip Oil company in order to compel them to improve on their facilities in order to address the recent fire incident that claimed 14 lives in a community in Bayelsa state.

READ ALSO: For Me Change Is Not An APC Thing – Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila

The committee will further determine steps taken by the JTF along with the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency (NOSDRA) to forestall further degradation of the region.

The house reached this decision after adopting a motion moved by Honourable Douye Diri (PDP, Bayelsa) and 13 others. Hon. Diri informed the house that as a result of oil exploration in the region, communities suffer from various environmental hazards.

He  opined that the action was carried out without recourse to internationally accepted best practices, leading to serious pollution, destruction of farmlands and also kill fish, “thereby jeopardizing farming and fishing, which are the main stay of the people of the Niger Delta area.”

According to Daily Trust,  the house thereafter observed a minute silence for the victims of the July 9 fire outbreak and adopted the motion by unanimous consent.

READ ALSO: Hon. Oduneye Speaks On House Crisis

Recently, the house asked the federal government to check the menace of porous borders and proliferation of illicit weapons which help insurgency grow.

The post Illegal Refineries: House Of Reps Set To Probe JTF appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.