In furtherance of the efforts at addressing issues related to the recent incidence of dead fish on the shores and waterways around the Atlantic coastline, the Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, David Irimagha has inaugurated a fact-finding committee to unravel the mystery behind the development.

Speaking while inaugurating the committee today in Bonny, Irimagha charged the committee members to view their assignment as a serious one that was threatening the primary means of livelihood of the people of the area, stressing that every effort and resource has to be deployed to quickly resolve the disturbing situation.

The committee, which has the Secretary of the Bonny Environmental Consultants Committee (BECC), Amairigha Hart, represented by Sydney Allison, as Chairman, and Airigha Brown, represented by Charles Brown, as Secretary, has the Supervisor for Health, Bonny Local Government Council, Nixon Tolofari, Blessing Pepple, Claudius Hart, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Kristina Reports, Godswill Jumbo, ASP Noel Okusha (Marine Police), Lt. Commander M. Adamu (Nigerian Navy), Nelson Kaizer (Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps), and Capt. Ibinabo Omineokuma (Joint Taskforce, Operation Delta Safe).

Others are Chidi Ikocha (NLNG), Dr Increase Boma-Orawari (SPDC), Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Williams Ogbah-Agwu, Chief Press Secretary, Jewel Atedoghu, and Press Secretary, Kingsley Jumbo, to the Bonny LGA Chairman, and acting Leader of the Bonny Youth Federation (BYF), Tamuno-Opubo Wilcox-Buruwi, as members.  

The Vice Chairman of the Bonny Chief Council (BCC), Chief Hanniel Pepple will supervise the committee, which was tasked with probing the immediate and remote causes of the incidence, proffering a realistic and sustainable solution to the situation and advising on ways to checkmate a recurrence of the incidence and protecting the marine ecosystem in the area.  

In his speech during the event, which had the Vice of Bonny LGA, Anengi Barasua, Chief of Staff to the Chairman, Bonny LGA, Secretary to the Bonny LG Council, Omoni Longjohn, and Uriel John-Jumbo, among other officials, the lawmaker representing Bonny Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Abinye Pepple thanked the members of the committee for availing themselves to serve the community at such a critical time.

He assure them of his full support in the discharge of their assignment, expressing optimism that they would deploy their best skills and knowledge to ensure the success of their assigned task.

Also speaking, Chief Hanniel Pepple noted that the committee’s task was a critical one that should be pursued with patriotic vigour and passionate commitment, maintaining that the continued vending of the affected fish (Croaker, also known as ‘broke marriage’) represents a danger to public health, charging the committee to consider impounding and destroying the fish anywhere it is found whether fresh or smoked, and to enforce a total ban of the fish in all markets around Bonny LGA.

There has been an incidence of dead fish (croaker) around the shores and waterways of the coastline communities along the Atlantic shoreline. Reports have it that communities lying along the coastline from Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States have been impacted with the cause of the incidence yet to be unraveled.

Kristina Reports’ checks around some of the communities in the Finima axis of Bonny LGA reveal that the incidence, which started about three weeks ago, have, so far, affected an estimated five million fish of the croaker family.

Locals, who spoke to Kristina Reports in Lighthouse, Amariarikiri, Finitasengi, Ifoko, and Agaja communities, among others lamented that their means of livelihood has been drastically affected by the situation as they are not able to catch other fishes given that the stench of the dead croaker drives away other species of fish from their fishing environments, thus threatening an estimated half a billion naira industry.