Over 240,000 barrels of oil spilled annually in N'Delta - CSO

Port Harcourt -- Not less than 240,000 barrels of crude oil get spilled across the Niger Delta region, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has said.

The effect of these spills, according to CISLAC, has led to 60 percent reduction

in household food security and reduced the ascorbic acid and other nutritional content of food crops like vegetables by 36 percent and cassava by 40 percent.

The Executive Director of CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Ibrahim Musa, said at the 2019 NAWOJ week in Port Harcourt, that the above statistics could result in a 24 percent increase in childhood malnutrition among children in the region.

Speaking on the theme of the event '"Clean the Niger Delta, Save our Women”, Musa emphasised that oil spills have drastic health implications on human

lives.

"Oil spills in the Niger Delta which are mostly caused by oil exploratory activities led to 60 percent reduction in food security and reduced the ascorbic acid content of vegetables by 36 percent and the crude protein content of cassava by 40 percent, which could result in a 24 percent increase in childhood malnutrition," he said.

He added: "Evidence continues to accumulate suggesting that environmental exposures adversely impact human reproductive function. "Hydrocarbon exposures in the work place, homes, farms and ambient environment have devastating effects on women’s reproductive health, and concerns have been raised about a broad spectrum of factors that affect women health including social, biological and physical environment." CISLAC also recommended effective environmental governance in the Niger Delta, warning that it is only through such process that laws, policies and procedures would be implemented to achieve a healthy and sustainable environment in the region.

Musa tasked journalists in the region to always highlight the importance of environmental justice in their reports, in other to promote a healthy and sustainable environment in the region.