‘Dirty fuel endangering health of Nigerians’

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), a Non-Governmental Organisation and the Public Eye, an NGO based in Switzerland, have said the high Sulphur content in dirty fuel is causing environmental and health risks to Nigerians. Speaking during the launch of “stop dirty fuel” campaign by the two organizations in Abuja, Executive Director […]

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), a Non-Governmental Organisation and the Public Eye, an NGO based in Switzerland, have said the high Sulphur content in dirty fuel is causing environmental and health risks to Nigerians.
Speaking during the launch of “stop dirty fuel” campaign by the two organizations in Abuja, Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev David Ugolor, said that such health risks include stroke, heart diseases and chronic respiratory diseases.
He said Swiss commodity trading companies take advantage of weak fuel standards in Africa to produce, deliver and sell diesel and gasoline which endanger the health of Nigerians.
Ugolor said their business model relies on an illegitimate strategy of deliberately lowering the quality of fuels in order to increase their profits, adding that through using a common industry practice called blending, trading companies mix cheap but toxic intermediate petroleum products to produce what the industry calls “African Quality” fuels.
According to him, these intermediate products contain high levels of Sulphur as well as other toxic substances such as benzene and aromatics, and by selling such fuels in Africa, the traders increase outdoor air pollution, causing respiratory disease and premature death.
“Poor air quality poses serious risks to public health. As air quality declines, the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases increases,” he said.
The Executive Director said that apart from the health hazards, dirty fuel also leads to huge economic loss to vehicle owners because it burns very fast.
The group called on the federal government to pay more attention to the dangers posed to her citizens by importers of dirty fuel and to enact laws in conjunction with the National Assembly and other stakeholders to check activities of illegitimate fuel importers.