Governor vows to revoke lands acquired by oil firms illegally

Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, on Tuesday vowed to revoke titles to all lands acquired by oil and gas firms operating in the state without government approval.

The governor made the declaration in Uyo while inaugurating a committee to combat illegal mining in Akwa Ibom with the Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources as Chairman.

He expressed concern over rising illegal mining activities in the state, particularly across the coastlines and the dangers the trend poses to the state.

Eno also hinted at enacting measures to back the fight against the trend.

“The Ministry of Environment cannot do this alone. They need collaboration of all of us, and we need to back it up with a law.

“If we don’t checkmate this menace, there could be influx of people who could be security threats to our state.

“That’s why we are taking it very seriously. We want to know who are the miners in this state, what is their profile, what type of minerals are they mining and who do they pay tax to?

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“If we find anyone illegally involved in encouraging illegal mining in our state, we would severely deal with the person accordingly. Local Government Chairmen, take charge of your respective areas.

“You are the Chief Executive Officers of the local governments. So, please do not tolerate any illegality, bring it up early to our attention, and let us address it,” he said.

Eno alleged “an ugly situation in Ibeno where land sold to a company was used as dump site for some hazardous waste” and directed “the Commissioner for Lands to investigate and revoke all land procured by oil and gas servicing companies without government approval.”

The Committee, to hit the ground running and presents monthly report to the governor also has, as members, the State Commissioners for Special Duties, Transport, Internal Security, Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner of Police, Special Adviser on Security, Chairman, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria and Local Government Chairmen of coastal areas.