The residents of Abuja Community in the Owode-Ibeshe area of Ikorodu Division are lamenting the persistent foul odour emanating from the chemical waste disposal spilling off from the Nichemtex Textile Company in the area thereby, causing some of them to relocate to a new environment.
Speaking with Oriwu Sun recently in an interview at Ikorodu, some of the residents said they were relocating to a safer place outside Abuja, having lived with the offensive smell for a long time. According to them, the steady pollution of their environment as well as the ecological hazards occasioned by the steady dumping of the chemical by-products into Abuja River and the neighbourhood by Nichemtex has become quite unbearable. They said inspite of the repeated complaints from the residents concerning the offensive smell, the company has turned deaf ear to their plight.
According to them, even though there are other communities around the company, Abuja was the most affected because the river is located at the back of the company, where the chemical was being disposed.
In an investigation by Oriwu Sun, it was gathered that the residents of Abuja community had for some years back reported the issue to the state government and the company was locked by the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) in 2011. It was reopened after a certain sum of money was paid as fine.
As an act of compensation, it was learnt, the company provided tap water for the residents of Abuja community and another affected neighbouring community called Ibeshe to ease their water problem. This was because the river, which serves as the main source of water for them, has been contaminated by the chemical spilling from the company. This, however, did not end the ordeal of the residents of the affected communities, who continued to battle the unhealthy odour emanating from the chemical waste.
Although, there were mixed accounts of the incident, most of the residents said that the textile company was not doing anything about the ugly incident. However, a worker in the company said that the management is trying to find another way of disposing their waste. He assured the people of Abuja that the company would soon find a solution to their complaints.
A resident of Abuja community, Mr. Emmanuel Afolabi, a teacher, said he had been living in the community for the past ten years and nothing has been done to curb this act. In his words: “I am planning to move out of this place because I am through with my house at Ilaje. This place really smells and it is not good for the health. Hence, I cannot allow my children to stay in this kind of area, which is the reason why I took them to my mother’s place to stay. I don’t know why the government is not doing anything about the issue. I think that there should be another way of disposing the chemical because they are aware of the hazard it causes to the people living around them.”
Mrs. Gbolagade, another resident of Abuja, said she was not against the company disposing its unwanted chemical waste but they should find another way of doing it because it is really affecting them.” Speaking further, she said, “I want the government to intervene on this matter because I believe they can curb this unfair act.”
Another resident from the neighbouring community of Ibeshe, Mrs. Adeola, said the smell from the chemical was not really affecting her but she could feel the pain of the people of Abuja community. According to her, “Polluting the air for a whole community is unfair but I don’t think there is anything the government can do about it because of the numerous advantages of the company to the community.” She also stated that her husband works in the company and they are trying their best to find solution to the problem.
Mr. Olumide Owoseni, a tipper driver, who lives in Benson, said he was living in Abuja before he relocated to his own house in Benson because of the unpleasant smell coming from the river.
This was what he said: “I was living in Abuja before I relocated to Benson because the smell was unbearable and I know that it was not good for the health.”
A source within the community, who did not disclose his identity, said the company had been making efforts to find another way of disposing its unwanted chemical. In his words, “We are trying to find a lasting solution to this problem because we know what the people living around us are going through,” he stated.