Former Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi has said that the continued re-occurrence of soot in Rivers state was because of the inability of the state government to utilize the security apparatus around him to curb the menace.
Amaechi who is now the Minister of Transportation, while addressing newsmen at the Port Harcourt International Airport said reports from the Federal Ministry of Environment show the black soots polluting Rivers state are particles from illegal processing of crude going on in the state.
He added that Governor Nyesom Wike lacked the political will to confront those who indulge in illegal processing of crude oil and bunkering activities.
Amaechi further stressed that there was no soot in Rivers state during his 8-year administration because of his obvious stance against illegality in the state, just as he alleged that Wike has failed to discharge his security responsibilities to the people by passing it on to the Federal Government.
“I was Governor here for 8 years and there was no soot. The reason why you have soot is not the Federal government.
“According to documents from the Ministry of Environment, the reason for soot is because people are bunkering and you have a Governor who is not able to discharge his security responsibilities and he passes it on to the Federal government.
“We felt that Rivers people are dying and we cannot allow one irresponsible man to allow Rivers people to die. The soot is not coming from heaven. It is from the irresponsibility of individuals who are in government and have no singular idea of what to do.
“When I was Governor, I was responsible enough to stop them and there was no soot.”
