Gas flaring: Niger Deltans are dying of sarcoma cancer – Rights activist cries out

Environmental rights activist, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, says the people of the oil-producing Niger Delta region are gradually dying of Sarcoma Cancer due to gas flaring orchestrated by both illegal and legal oil exploration and exploitation.

Our correspondent reports that Sarcoma is a rare group of cancers that arise in the bones and connective tissue such as fat and muscle.

Though its causes are not clear yet, scientists believe that family history and exposure to chemicals or radiation may increase the risk, and fewer than 100 thousand cases are recorded in Nigeria per year according to reports.

Mulade, who said the sufferers are unaware, made the disclosure on Thursday during a lecture he delivered at the just-concluded OML42 Youth Forum held in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State.

The national coordinator of the Centre for Peace & Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) said only an opthalmologist could help diagnose the ailment, describing it as “a serious sickness.”

Although not a medical doctor or trained in the medical line, the Ijaw-born activist said the people of the Niger Delta needed to stop or reduce the rate of gas flaring and illegal oil exploration activities in the region if the scourge must be arrested.

He advocated for an awareness campaign concerning the debilitating effects of gas flaring and illegal oil exploration activities on people’s health.

“Our people need to be aware so that they don’t think it’s just one of those common sickness. That’s why we are also trying to create some level of awareness so that they can have deep insights into it.

Mulade enjoined the people of the Niger Delta region to be extremely careful, saying, “It’s no longer about the environment; it’s about our health now.”

According to him, “We as a people that are involved in it (illegal oil bunkering) must stop it for the safety of our lives and our people.”

Explaining further how he got to know about the cancerous scourge, he said they had carried out research, especially in areas where there is sooth, visited some hospitals and discovered that some persons from the region were suffering from Sarcoma Cancer.

“When we went deeper, we discovered that it’s as a result of gas flaring and its continued effect on our people,” he averred, adding that most of the hospitals in the region cannot treat Sarcoma Cancer because they can hardly diagnose it.

He affirmed that the few hospitals in the region that could detect the disease will only refer their patients to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu or Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) for treatment, where they can only provide some palliative or fly the patient abroad for further medical treatment.

Comrade Mulade, therefore, called on the Federal Government and state governments in the region to halt gas flaring and artisanal crude oil refining activities as well as provide some of the equipment for hospitals in the region to treat patients.

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