However the situation now in the community is different. The people are not mulling over the abandoned rice farm but erosion that is threatening to delete the community from the map of Nigeria. Incidentally before the disaster became an issue ex-militant leader, Eris Paul a.k.a Ogunboss had drew the attention of the Federal Government to the activities of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) area. According to him Shell activities through two dredging companies was capable of causing serious environmental problems for the community.
Less than a week after his lamentation, precisely September 26 2011 the bubble burst and a substantial part of Peremabiri was eaten up causing colossal pains and grief for the people of the community. Mrs Grace Aaron is a native of the community, she took over the story: “I am an indigene of this community. Just come and see the way the river has eaten the land also up to swallowing my building. Several other houses have gone into the river and, for me and my household we are really scared that ours might be the next waiting to happen. If you look very well you will agree with me that our house is just less than three or four meters to the river. And we are very much concerned; day and night, as this matter is beyond what the community can handle.
We have already accepted it as our fate judging from the fact that we have witnessed so many others that have gone down into the river over the last few years. Even before we go to sleep, the thought of being swept into the river with the house has always come to the fore. Wherever we find ourselves our thought finds it hard to forget the danger facing us right now. We are hoping that the authorities will hear our cries and quickly come to rescue us from the ecological problem facing us. This is one of the major problems that are occupying the mind of many in this community. We need help urgently. I am appealing to the authorities to come to our assistance as soon as possible”
Dickson Peresuote the Community Development Committee (CDC) Chairman amplified her worries: “As you can see we are just few meters from the fast flowing Nun River. When I say close; I am placing emphasis on the fact that where we are standing right now may be inside the river sooner than we can imagine. We have lost so much of our community to the River Nun. If you watch you can see with me that the river has advanced too close to the concrete road in the community. If we take a tape and measure, I am sure the space between the River and the concrete road is now less than three meters in that section of the town. Everyone in the community is worried about this threatening ecological issue. When we were young, this community was very far from the football field.
That is why community leaders are not happy with the way Shell Petroleum Development Company [SPDC] has continued to carry out dredging activities within our environment. SPDC has continued to dredge at some sections of the River Nun and along the Diebu Creek every three years or so without recourse to Environmental Impact Assessment. We are of the belief that what Shell is doing is having a direct relationship with this loss of land to the river in our community. And we want solution to this problem. As a peaceful people, we want the authorities to prevail on SPDC and also intervene on this matter. I should use this opportunity to call on the Federal Government interventionist agencies like the Niger Delta Development Commission [NDDC] and the recently created Niger Delta Ministry to come to our aid. Unless urgent steps are taken to arrest the rapidly advancing river, this community will disappear soon. Yes, behind our community is a swamp and, we cannot go and build our houses in the swamp. This is our predicament”
Maurice Jonathan’s fear is what would happen to their children. According to him, Peremabiri might case to exist if the problem is not tackled urgently.
He said: “To tell you the truth no one is comfortable with way the River Nun is expanding while the community land is shrinking by the day. It is like a story now when we tell strangers that this community has lost over fifty meters of land in the last few years. And, if the trend should continue unchecked, we may join the monkeys in the swamps very soon. We are of the view that the dredging activities of Shell around us also have negative effect that is leading to the collapsing river banks and expansion of the River here. We are calling for assistance from government before we are wiped out from this location. What are we going to tell our children coming behind?”
The Environmental Rights Action and Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/ FoEN) during its visit to the community painted a pathetic picture of the ecological disaster staring the people in the face.
Mr Morris Alagoa the programme officer in a report after the visit noted that “there exists the urgent need for the Federal and state government agencies to take positive steps to address this ecological threat in Peremabiri and other Niger Delta communities facing similar conditions”
He urged the people to remain peaceful and not take laws into their hands to resolve the issue as violence would only cause more problems.
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