Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to local government chairmen in the state to provide a list of illegal refineries and their operators within their jurisdictions.
This is instead of the ongoing battle to stop the soot menace in the state.
Wike gave the order on Friday when he met with the council chairmen and heads of the Army, Air Force, the Navy, the Police, the Department of State Service (DSS), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at Government House.
He charged the chairmen to prove that they were not complicit in the illegal business that had continued to threaten the health of Rivers people and the national economy.
He said: “Now, every council chairman must go and identify where illegal refineries are taking place. If you identify one, you get N2m (Two million Naira). So, go and identify as many as you can.
“I will pay N2m for each one. And I am going to fight against this. Our people are dying and we owe our people the responsibility to protect them, to save them from death they never caused.
“So, you must, and you’re given 48 hours to go and identify all illegal refineries sites, and those who are in charge of them.”
