Federal Government is ready to carry out health plans for the Ogoni people in Rivers State to ascertain the effect of prolonged exposure to hydrocarbon on them, it was also said, that the Ogoni youths would be engaged in environmental surveillance to protect oil impacted sites being cleaned by Hydro-carbon Pollution Remediation Project in the area.

Federal Government set plans for the Ogoni’s.

The Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, disclosed this during a one-day stakeholder engagement program in the clean-up of Ogoni land held in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

“We will carry out a health audit of Ogoni people, to ascertain the effect of prolong exposure to hydrocarbon on the people, in order to determine the kind of interventions that needs to be done,” the Minister stated.

She assured that the Ministry of Environment will continue to engage the people of Ogoni and their communities, while also appealing for collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure the clean-up was a success.

“You call it security but I call it environmental surveillance. So, we are going to engage Ogoni youths on environmental surveillance, to protect all the sites we’re cleaning.

“No one can protect the sites more than the people. The more we have our young people securing these sites, the better for us.

“For advertisements of contracts, I have made sure that due process will be followed. The bids will be open to all qualified Nigerians.

“We might have to look at other sites that are contaminated, so that ones we finished the clean-up, we know that we have finished everything, not just cleaning the polluted sites that are under our scope, while there are still other areas that are contaminated.

” My goal is to ensure that the clean-up project is owned by the Ogoni people and that more indigenous people acquire the required skills and ability to participate in this clean up, “she added.