The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has called President Goodluck Jonathan and the Federal Government to take urgent steps to avert recurrence of ocean surge threatening to submerge Bayelsa coastal settlements.

The IYC Spokesman, Mr Eric Omare, in a statement issued on Sunday in Yenagoa, tasked President Jonathan to deploy his expertise as an environmentalist to address the challenges on his kinsmen.

“To the IYC, the Koluama issue is just like the other environmental crisis in the Niger Delta.

“It is a personal challenge to President Jonathan who is an environmentalist and very familiar with the problem, hence we call on him to act now and save the Koluama Communities from extinction,” the IYC said.

The group also said that the steps will save the impending humanitarian and environmental disaster at Koluama 1 and 2 Communities in the state.

According to IYC, the communities located along the Atlantic shoreline in Southern Ijaw local government area faced a daily impending ocean surge.

“These communities, especially Koluama 2 are at the risk of being overtaken by the ocean which has taken a substantial part of the land of the community.

“If urgent steps are not taken the entire Koluama 2 Community may not exist in the nearest future.

“This is an impending humanitarian and environmental disaster which can be averted if urgent proactive steps are taken,” Omare said.

According to him, the situation in Koluama 2 community is worsened by the abandonment suffered by the community as a result of the decades of oil exploration and exploitation.

He noted that Chevron Nigeria Limited had operated in the area without commensurate corporate social responsibility to ameliorate the environmental hazards suffered by the community.

“Chevron’s refusal to pay compensation for damages arising from the 2012 gas explosion coupled with the abject poverty in the community speaks volume of the level of abandonment.

“The IYC is appalled by the insensitivity of the federal Ministry of Environment to the situation being faced by the Koluama Communities despite the fact that the IYC had drawn the Ministry’s attention to the situation in June 2014,” the statement read in part.

•Photo shows President Jonathan.

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