Ortom Says There’s Plot By FG To Take States’ Right To Freshwater Resources.
By Naomisophyblog
The Benue State Government has alerted the entire Nigerians that the reintroduced Water Resources Bill was targeted at their fundamental rights to freshwater.
The bill which triggered controversy in the National Assembly between 2017 and 2020, was reintroduced on Wednesday by the Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli from Katsina State.
It can be recalled that the Muhammadu Buhari administration had sent the proposed law to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill on April 11, 2017.
The bill, however, sparked outrage as many Nigerians interpreted the proposed law as a plot to grab the waterways and hand the same to Fulani pastoralists.
The Benue Government, while reacting to the fresh bill, said in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom on Media and Publicity, Terver Akase that the bill would violate the rights of Nigerians.
The bill according to the statement, will deny “states and local government authorities as well as individuals the right to make use of the water in their backyard until they get permission from Abuja.
“We want to alert Nigerians again that if the National Water Resources Bill is passed into law, the rights of citizens over freshwater resources – ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and springs will be taken away with impunity.
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“The Federal Government’s insistence to take over the control of water resources across the country is tantamount to the suppression and enslavement of indigenous people of this country.
“We call on other State Governments to rise and resist the land and water grabbing bill currently before the National Assembly. This is an opportunity for all patriots to stand to be counted as those who resisted modern-day slavery”.
