Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, a Civil Society Organization dedicated to ecological/climate justice and food sovereignty, is urging an end to land grabbing resulting from mining and exploration activities in oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta.
During a farmers’ training on land restoration against land grabbing in Okoro-Utip, Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, the Programme Manager of HOMEF, Stephen Oduware, emphasized the need for communities to reclaim their lands lost to pollution and resource mining.
Oduware urged communities to document their economic and social status pre and post oil spills to facilitate the land reclamation process.
Highlighting the impact of land grabbing, Oduware stated, “Communities like Okoro-Utip have suffered from habitat loss due to restrictions imposed around oil installations, preventing access to fishing grounds. Pollution also renders spaces unusable, akin to land grabbing.”
He added, “Companies occupying residential or agricultural lands further exacerbate the issue. This unacceptable practice must cease, not only in Okoro-Utip but across the entire Niger Delta where various forms of mining occur.”
Advocating for environmental justice, Oduware emphasized the toll taken by mineral resource exploration on community health, with many residents suffering from cancer and other chronic illnesses.
Enyina Wilson, the Secretary of Okoro-Utip community, shared the community’s ordeal of environmental, economic, and health deterioration due to oil exploitation.
Wilson described the community’s plight, stating, “Oil spills have ravaged our health, prematurely aging individuals and causing illnesses like cancer. Our water sources are polluted, endangering our lives, and all our pipelines are contaminated.”
He continued, “Fishermen struggle due to dwindling fish populations and sporadic fish deaths, while oil residues on farmlands lead to reduced yields, compromising our well-being. Women face pregnancy complications, contributing to our health woes.”