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Illegal Rainforest Logging in Cross River State, Nigeria
How Illegal Logging Thrives in Cross River State
Vanguard (Lagos)
August 24, 2004
By George Onah
Calabar
Original URL: http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200408240114.html
A few years back it was the depletion of the Ozone layer, which sent heat wave across some parts of the world. Many people in those parts of the world died as a result of this. The depletion of the Ozone layer was traceable to the activities of man. Pollution was blamed for the partial destruction of the layer. Similarly, the heinous activities of some corporate entities and individuals have greatly affected the rainforest in Cross River State so much that this deforestation has had severe effect on the environments.
Apart from the depletion in the state's internally generated revenue, human beings and animals as well as plants have been put in precarious positions of survival.
Even inanimate objects like houses and other structures are not spared. It is not uncommon for roofs of houses to be blown off by the slightest rainstorm.
There are no windbreakers or sufficient trees to check the devastating rainstorms. Illegal loggers have callously plundered these trees, which also provide, shelter and consequently allow streams, rivers and other waters to exist.
The destruction of aquatic life has threatened to extinct marine activities. The rainforest in Cross River State stretches from Ikom, Etung (northern part), Obubra and Boki local governments. It is the middle belt of the state called central senatorial district. Four years ago, a foreign-based Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), FESTO, visited the state as part of efforts to protect the forest from extinction.
Accordingly, FESTO discovered that the rainforest communities and some corporate outfits were feasting on the forest dangerously.
To check the activities of these fellows, therefore, the NGO offered monetary incentives to persuade the communities from cutting down the trees. While some got N100,000 certain groups were placated with N50,000 to enable them invest the funds into other sources of livelihood. FESTO won.
The communities distanced themselves from the forest for a while. However, it was discovered that illegal loggers from surrounding states of Cross River State were soon to lure some individuals of the rainforest communities into illegal logging.
Even some government officials were found to be conniving with the inhabitants to perpetrate the illegality.
But some friends of the environment have taken the fight to the door steps of these enemies of the rain forest. Chiefly amongst these Non-Governmental Organizations is the Rainforest Resource and Development Centre, RRDC, so ferocious was the fight against a logging company called WEMCO, that the volunteers of the NGO were thrown behind police counters in Ikom Local Government where the company is situated.
RRDC was allegedly discovered by WEMCO to have taken photographs of its illicit acts in the forest and was ready to blow the lid on the company.
The NGO claimed that based on its financial strength, the company was able to make the police in Ikom to go after the volunteers. Not deterred, the NGO led by its Executive Director, Mr. Odey Ogama took legal action as well as informed the government on the deals of WEMCO. In a swift reaction, the state government told WEMCO to close shop and leave the state.
In its reason for the closure, the government in its letter dated July 7, 2004 and signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Dominic Kidzu stated that WEMPCO which started prospecting for wood in the state since 1992 has continued to operate in a most unsuitable manner and in contravention of extant forest laws and regulations.
Some of the irregularities perpetrated by the company according to the government, include; refusal to log from its concession, habitual patronage of illegal loggers, exportation of unprocessed wood materials such as veneer and sawn timber out of the state for processing into finished products in Lagos and Ogun States contrary to the original intention of sitting the factory at Ikom.
The company was also accused of acceptance of logs into the factory even when there is a current ban on movement of logs in the state as well as total failure to adopt environmentally sustainable forest conser-vation techniques.
" In the light of the above, His Excellency, the Governor, has approved the decision of the State Forestry Commission that the company ceases to engage in any forestry related business within Cross River State.
Accordingly, WEMPCO has been given a period of 21 days within which to evacuate its plant, equipment and machinery from all forest reserves and or community forest in Cross River State", the statement said. The closure of the company is coming on the heels of a legal battle between it and a forest protecting agency an NGO under the aegis of RRDC which was granted a motion of notice by Justice M. O. Eneji of Ikom High Court to enforce their fundamental rights.
In the motion granted by Justice Eneji, against the state Commissioner of Police, DPO, Ikom, Cross River, the Agro Forestry Company as well as Western Metals Products Company, he restrained the respondents from further arresting the applicants.
The applicants, led by the Executive Director of RRDC, Mr. Odey Oyama and nine others are seeking relief on grounds that in furtherance with its objectives as a Non-Governmental Organisation and watch dog of forest degradation the applicants took photographs of wood illegally exploited from our forest and later abandoned by the 3rd to 5th respondents.
Condemning the action of the company, Chairman of the Forestry Commission, Mr. Boniface Archibong said WEMCO cut down some Iroko trees that were between 150 years to 200 years. He stated that as soon as WEMPCO established its factory at Ikom Bridge head, there was lots of public out cry, both locally, nationally and internationally, because WEMPCO was perceived to have a bad track record particularly in Omo Forest Reserve in Ogun State.
Because of its international recognition as a Biodiversity Hot Spot, Forestry Commission withdrew the 113,32 km2 of WEMPCO Forest Concession in Afi River Forest Reserves and constituted it into the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. WEMPCO was requested to sign forest concession for each of the remaining four forest reserves, and was later granted an Environment Impact Statement (EIS) by FEPA for Ikrigon Forest Reserve. WEMPCO in 1996 signed Forest Concession agreements for Ikrigon and Cross River North Reserves.
Despite signing forest concession agreements for the two forest reserves, and having the endorsement of FEPA to log in Ikrigon WEMPCO has never logged directly in these forest reserves. At the commissioning of the company on May 21st, 2001, Governor Donald Duke had directed the company to restrict its exploitation to its concession area instead of relying on buying logs from individual permittees. Since then, WEMPCO had continued to rely on buying logs from third parties who log on single tree basis.
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