Presidency douses tension over proposed nuclear plant in A/Ibom

The Presidency yesterday urged the people of Oku Iboku community in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State to remain calm over the proposed siting of a nuclear plant in the area.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, in an interview with journalists in Uyo, asked them not to resort to violence in opposing the siting of the plant in their community, saying the Federal Government would not do anything to the detriment of the people.

He said the result of the environmental impact assessment of the project would determine if the federal government would go ahead to establish the plant in the area.

“I had engaged in a meeting with the former DirectorGeneral of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency in my house on the safety of this project, and I had told him that there are other alternative sources of energy that are safer. We did not complete the discussion until his tenure expired and he left, and another person was appointed.

“Where we are now is where they are doing an environmental impact analysis and the discussion we had with the former DirectorGeneral was that they have to do an environmental impact analysis and a lot of people in the whole of that area will have to be evacuated in case of an accident.

“And I drew his attention to Chernobyl and the number of nuclear accidents we were having in the world at that time, and I also drew his attention to the fact that around Chile, nuclear plants accident had sunk almost a whole clan.

“We have to find out what the people really want and the effects of it and if there is no other alternative to doing it.

“People should be calm and just make their submissions. There shouldn’t be any violence about it. The Federal Government will take a decision based on the report of the assessment.”