Panic grips residents as suspected toxic waste hits Asaba/Ebu Road

Suspected substances of alleged toxic waste has hit Asaba/Ebu/Illah road as residents of the areas are currently gripped in the fear of the unknown. Some of the residents who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity alleged that the strange substances in ash/white sandy colour, may have been dumped by a northern based giant cement manufacturer (name withheld) workers/drivers who ply the road often to Abuja.
Investigation revealed that frequent dumping of the suspected substances, especially along the busy Asaba/Ebu/Illah Road within Oshmili North and South Local Government Areas of the State allegedly by workers/drivers of the big time cement company, has set tongues wagging among the defenceless people of the agrarian communities who have also called for immediate intervention of the State House of Assembly to save them from the suspected carcinogenic toxic related
substances.
But the State Government through the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. John Nani on Wednesday allayed fear of the unknown, disclosing that experts known to be evacuators would evacuate the substances within the next few days, noting that the substances feared to be harmful to health, especially at close contact, is assured of the safety of the people, adding that measures have been taken to check perpetrators of the menace.
Further investigation revealed that the substances were dumped closer to the source of domestic water, such as rivers/streams and other bodies of drinking water of the people; a situation, an Elder statesman in Ebu community, Chief Ndidi Nduka said might portend bad omen for them if urgent steps are not taken to ensure the substances are not
persuasive.
A few weeks ago, a community within mile 2 (name withheld) near Asaba experienced a similar incident when its residents woke up on the fateful morning to see littered substances packaged in cement bags at
every nooks and cranny.
They were said to have raised the alarm which resulted in a search party conducted fortunately, the alleged perpetrator, one of the owners of numerous trucks conveying cement with registration number KMC 407 XC after allegedly dumping the substances was caught and taken to Illah police station where he was reportedly quizzed before he was left off the hook. At the Illah police division, police officers who did not want their names in the print said: “The villagers brought the
suspect and he was detained before released on bail”.
Worse still, are loads of packaged materials allegedly dumped on the sloppy side of a drainage system, a few metres away from Iyi-Uku River, the only source of drinking water for Ebu/Illah people.
But an old woman, Madam Eunice Akpolor said “We are appealing to the state government, House of Assembly members to come to our aid, we are deeply afraid of the substances, we don’t know what they
dumped”.
Sources close to the speaker, Mr. Monday Igbuya confirmed that on resumption in January 2017, the matter would be at the front burner during plenary session.