The Amankwo people of Agbada Inyi Autonomous Community, Oji River Council of Enugu State, are enraged over the alleged pollution of their only source of water by a coal mining company.

This has triggered a deep rift between them, their traditional ruler, local authorities and members of the project implementation committee overseeing the mining operation in the area.

The community is accusing the mining firm, ChrisKev Estate Limited, of contaminating their only local source of water, Odu River, and destroying aquatic animals, particularly fish in the river as well as poisoning cassava farms around the mining area. They also accused the company of failing to honour key terms of their community responsibility agreement with them. And to register their grievances, hundreds of members of the community took to the streets for days. The leader of the protesters, Polycarp Udah, said the protest was prompted by the contamination of their stream. Udah, who incidentally is a member of the Community Coal Mining Implementation Committee, said: “This coal mining operation started sometime last year. Since then, we have been having issues. Each time issues arose, they made promises, but those promises are not being fulfilled. We gave them time because every business can have challenges.

“But what happened to our stream, the Odu River, is where we drew the line. The stream supplies water to about 10 hamlets. We don’t know what the company spilled into it; all the big fish died, and almost the entire aquatic life perished. The river started smelling and became polluted.

“If not for three or four private boreholes here, the people would have been stranded. Some now walk one to two kilometres to fetch water. Normally, you just walk down to the stream.”

He also listed the firm’s unmet promises in the community development agreement to include road expansion, provision of five boreholes, annual scholarships, 70 per cent unskilled jobs for locals, and annual community support.

According to him: “One borehole they did is not working because there is no power. Another for landowners is also not functioning. The third for this community has not been done. The road is terrible; even a jeep struggles to pass through it.

“They agreed to pay N20,000 per truck of coal. From the first and second batches, we got some money, but many trucks leave here daily, and they have not fully settled what they owe. These funds are for our town hall and electricity.

“Stones from the site are dumped into the stream, blocking the flow. Some workers even defecate there. There is no environmental control. This water issue is a matter of life and death”, the protesters lamented.

Adding his voice, Vice Chairman of Amankwo village, Ogochukwu Nnebo, alleged that the miners entered the community without proper consultation.

“We woke up one day and started seeing trucks and heavy equipment destroying farms and economic trees. They told us it was the Governor’s project, Igwe’s project, Federal Government project, and that we should not interfere or we would rust in prison.

“We waited because we were told they had agreed to sink boreholes, construct roads and give scholarships. Instead, they spoiled our road with heavy trucks. The local government never intervened; we have been repairing the road ourselves.

“Last week, the only stream we have started changing colour and killing aquatic life. We traced it to the extreme of the site and saw where chemicals entered the stream. That is why we are protesting.”

The women said they were the worst hit. Caroline Udah, a farmer and women leader, recalled how bulldozers destroyed their cassava farms and linked recent illnesses in her household to the polluted water.

“I nearly lost my family and friends after we ate abacha (tapioca) washed in the stream. Everybody started vomiting and defecating. We were weak and could not lift our hands. This happened because coal miners came to our village.

“They spoil the culvert repeatedly with their heavy vehicles. We repaired it several times. They insult you when you complain.”

Mrs. Tochukwu Hyginus, a palm oil processor and farmer, said she lost over 50 bags of abacha worth about N1 million after washing them in the stream.

“The colour changed to black. Nobody in the market agreed to buy it. Even the garri I processed with the water got spoilt. Dog trainers were the only people who bought it.”

However, the traditional ruler of Agbada Inyi, HRH Igwe Ignatius Okpara, whom the protesters accused of conspiring with miners, dismissed the allegations. He accused some youths of criminality and extortion.

“No one reported anything to my cabinet members or me. Those boys are criminals. We are working well with the company according to the agreement.

“I learned they mounted a blockade on the road to collect money from road users and even broke the culvert to justify toll collection.

“The fish they are talking about, I have not seen. This is a ploy to make money from the company,” the monarch said.

Also, Chairman of the Project Implementation Committee, Dr. Basil Maduabuchi, disagreed with the protesters and accused Udah of sabotage, saying the protest is politically motivated to tarnish the image of the government and mining company.

He said the mining company has kept to all the promises as contained in the Community Development Agreement, CDA, which he said runs batch by batch.

“The same Polycarp is among those who destroyed the culvert,” he alleged.

“I asked him to make a video of the fish; he refused. That type of fish is alien to our stream. As a veterinary doctor doing my PhD, I know the company can only use chlorine to detoxify water. It cannot cause the damage they claim. We agreed that the remedy is to provide alternative water and then investigate. Instead, they started protesting.”

Oji River Council Chairman, Greg Chijioke Anyaegbudike, said interim measures had been put in place to provide them with water.

“I arranged for water tankers because if you don’t attend to the tapioca, it will spoil. The issue with the borehole is a generator to power it, and that will be done. Bulldozers will start expanding the road.

“The miner released money for these. They should have waited for the investigation instead ofdemonstrating. We need to know where the contamination is coming from and who to blame.” (Vanguard)