Era: Lagos community where dredgers wreak unfettered environmental havoc

Era Town is a community in Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area (LCDA), off Badagry expressway, Lagos. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI who visited the community writes on the environmental damage in the community caused by dredging companies’ activities.

Sometime in 2003, the last Baale (traditional ruler) of Era commnunity, Wahab Momodu Egbeile joined his ancestors. Upon the demise of Wahab Momodu Egbeile, there were series of contrived suits orchestrated by some other families in Era Town which led to a 17 years vacuum on the seat of the Baale of Era Town.

During this period some people, who are mostly not indigenes of the town, took advantage of the absence of a Baale in the community, by moving in heavily loaded machines and equipment into Era community for dredging the major river in Era Town, the Ologe River.

 

Unauthorised dredging activities

At inception, five dredging companies were at Ologe River dredging without authorisation. The five companies were Carlton Multi Services Limited, Educhudy Dredging Company Limited, Lloyd & Sotheby Limited, Ac Synergy System Limited, and Fide Natts Global Resources Ltd.

“Before the entire people of Era community could blink an eye, these dredgers commenced dredging activities on Ologe River without the due consent and authority of the community, as well as relevant approvals and documents including but not limited to Cadastral Permits and Environmental Impact Assessments Reports.

“The Era community in a bid to stop the illegal dredging, activities of the dredgers wrote to the Governor of Lagos State as well as the Ministry of Mines and Steels complaining about the illegal dredging activities in Era Community.

“In response to the community’s letter, Lagos State Government and the Ministry of Mines and Steel directed a stop work on the dredging activities which the dredgers refused to comply with till date. Instead of complying with the stop-work directive of the Lagos State Government, the dredgers increased from five companies to 19 dredging firms operating inside the Ologe River,” Prince Olasunkanmi Awojo, chairman of the Era CDA Community told Nigerian Tribune exclusively.

Community roads gone

Also speaking with Nigerian Tribune, the current Baale of Era Community, Chief Olumide Akinsoji Erinle, and his chiefs lamented that the once-happy and growing community has lost its peace and development since about 20 dredgers invaded the community, causing destruction of the mangroves, of their roads and the environment.

According to Chief Olumide Akinsoji Erinle, “Some unpatriotic persons in the community took advantage of the community’s empty stool since the passing of the former Baale some 17 years ago and connived with the dredgers who are now causing environmental degradation with the road in total disrepair.

“Things were moving fine for the community and its people till the dredgers came; then everything started falling apart. A lot of our men and women, who are fishers by nature, have been thrown out of jobs. Of course, house owners in this area no longer enjoy their property; a lot of them have abandoned their houses and left this community. Others just sell them off and move away. The reason is that the roads are all in shambles due to the activities of these dredgers.

“Most vehicles in this area are no longer in order including my own. We have cried to the government in the past years – waterfronts and NIWA, even the cadastral office. At a point, there was a stop-work order issued from the Lagos State Government. Afterwards, there was another issued by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, but the dredgers ignored it. They did not even stop for one hour.

“Presently, the roads are in complete disrepair. The CDAs and some individual landlords usually come to my palace to know if there is anything we can do for them concerning the roads. Actually, it is very difficult; it is beyond me. We are crying this time to the government and those agencies to do the needful.

“In a community like this, security should be paramount. How can we have dredgers working round the clock without control? How can we have a place like this with close to 20 dredgers or more in a span of less than half-kilometre? And they have been dredging, to the best of my knowledge, for over eight years non-stop – both day and night. We are no longer enjoying the community.

“Government should also ask the dredgers of what benefit the dredging activities are to the community? To whom much is given, much is also expected. Where is the corporate social responsibility? If they say they have given anything, they should show it.

“The Lagos Area Manager of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Madam Sarah Braimah, has been very supportive on this issue. I and my chiefs went to her office to complain and she summoned the dredgers.

She said the dredgers knew that most of the people in this community were illiterates and they were exploiting them. She mentioned at least two communities where the dredgers there took care of the roads.

“At that meeting, we demanded an MoU with the dredgers. We drafted the MoU and gave to her to peruse. She said it was okay and promised that the dredgers would sign it the following day.

“At her request, I sent one of my chiefs to take the MoU to her office, at least in the interest of mutual relationship. But nothing was done, nobody responded. I now called her, reminding her that she gave me her words and I sent one of the chiefs to deliver it to her.

“She said, ‘sorry. I don’t want it to appear as if I forced them to sign.’ And that was where it all ended. We had to get back to the same page. After a lot of pains, we had to write to the body of all the obas and chiefs in the local government. “They wrote the cadastral office and also wrote their submissions to NIWA. Within two days, they quickly organised a meeting between waterfront and NIWA, and we all met here.

“Our conclusion that day was that there would be a committee to look into the whole problem and at least fashion out the way forward, because I had to send for my lawyers to join the meeting. Up till now, since over two years, nothing has been done. We are tired.

“The way forward is that if we are not benefiting anything from them, and they are adding more pains to us, they should please vacate our community in the interest of peace.

“Also, we want to plead with the state government to assist us in looking at the level of environmental degradation caused by the dredgers in the community here.”

Corroborating the Baale on the community’s past fruitless efforts at peaceful resolution of the problem, an executive of the United CDA of Era Awori community, Mr. Festus Igbinoba, disclosed that the CDA, right from Afromedia, had sent a save-our-souls message to then Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, seeking urgent government intervention.

He regretted that the dredgers’ activities had led to the damage of roads, while the only public hospital and school in the community had become inaccessible, leading to avoidable loss of human lives, especially pregnant women.

Also, an elder in the community, Mr Peter Ogbugo, said the residents were demanding the restoration of their market and complete rehabilitation of their road.

He noted that transport fares in the community which used to average N50 was now N500 when available as only a few transporters now ply the very bad road.

“Aside, the damage to the entire road network in Era town, the indigenes of the

community being fishermen and women who survive on the abundance of the Ologe River, the activities of the dredgers, which were embarked upon without due regards to environmental assessment and its impacts on the community, have resulted in joblessness and further entrenched poverty in the community,” Ogbugo explained.

 

Flouting 2007 Mining Act

When Nigerian Tribune asked the umbrella body of dredgers in Nigeria, the Dredgers Association of Nigeria (DAN) whether the Era based dredgers were their members and were operating legally, the association disowned the dredgers in Era Town and said they are operating illegally.

Speaking with Nigerian Tribune exclusively on the matter, the General Secretary of DAN, Mr Richard Ntan stated that, “These dredgers operating in Era Town are not validated members of DAN.

“We don’t recognise them as members though we know that they claim to be members of DAN. If they are members, ask them if they are registered with DAN. As a member of DAN, there are certain obligations that you must fulfil. You have to register. You have to pay membership dues. You have to pay annual dues. You have to attend meetings and work with the constitution of DAN.

“They may claim to be members of DAN, but we don’t know them because they are not valid members. Yes, they are into dredging and mining activities, but they are not our members.

“If they are members of our association, why should they not comply with the rules and guidelines guiding dredging and mining activities? If they are to be our members, they will not indulge in activities that will degrade their host community because it is stated in the law guiding mining and dredging activities.

“As dredgers, we are under authority. We have regulators. According to the law, it is compulsory for dredgers to fix their mining routes. It is succinctly stated in the 2007 Act on Mining Regulations of the Federal Government. As a dredger, you must fix your mining routes.

“The 2007 Act on Mining Regulations of the Federal Government does not ask dredgers to go and fix the expressway. What the Act says is that dredgers should fix their mining routes. If your mining activities go through a community, it is the duty of the dredgers to fix the road of that community that they (dredgers) use. These are basic things that dredgers must do as CSR for their host communities.

“As I am speaking with you, the Environmental Department of the Ministry of Mines just wrote us that they are coming out on inspection of mining sites.”

Ntan reacted to media reports which have gone viral over the operations of the unknown dredgers. He lamented that such operators were behind the bad name given to dredging activities across the country, particularly in Lagos which has pitted the organised and registered dredgers body against regulatory authorities who do not ask if such dredgers seeking approvals truly belong to DAN.

“These are the consequences of government regulatory agencies in not helping to organise businesses in Nigeria. But when trouble comes, both the good and bad people, in this case now, dredgers will be lumped together,” Mr Ntan further explained.

He called for a proper regulation and review of the operations Era vicinity and strict profiling of the alleged dredgers, and those found culpable should face extant environment regulatory laws.  The community roads should be repaired, and the necessary social responsibility ecosystem be extended to them, adding that all non-state actors, hoodlums and land grabbers should be arrested and made to face the law.

“We are ashamed of what is going on in Era town and wish to join the community to call on all relevant regulatory bodies on environment, mining and inland waterways to quickly intervene and save Era community,” the DAN General secretary stated.

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