Anambra: Group battles plastic pollution of rivers, says fish from polluted rivers dangerous to human beings

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Members of IAD scooping plastics from the bank of Omambala River in Anambra State

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By Madu Obi

A nongovernmental organization, Initiative for Agulu Development, IAD, in Anambra State, has begun the clearing of rivers in Anambra State of plastic pollution, warning that eating fish from such rivers are dangerous to human health.

Leaders of the group, at the weekend, mobilized youths and traders at the riverine Umuoba Anam Market in Anambra East local government area of the state, with officials of the state Ministry of Environment, to commence the removal of heaps of plastics deposited along the bank of Omambala River.

President of IAD, Chike Aniukwu, who led the "operation clear the rivers of plastics", lamented that wastes, including plastics from drainages, are usually deposited into the river by flood and aquatic creatures that eat them are not good for consumption.

He said: "Our focus is to protect the banks of the rivers, as wastes from the nearby market and the drainages empty into the river whenever it rains.

The danger is that since plastics take a very long time to breakdown into micro plastics, they are consumed by fish and other aquatic animals and anybody who eats them, also eats the plastics indirectly. It is a health issue and that is why we want to stop the flow of plastic wastes into the river."

According to Aniukwu, the programme will be carried out in all communities that have rivers, adding that people are consuming fish that are injurious to their health without realizing it.

The coordinator of Anambra State Recyclers Association, Pastor Ben Agape, commended officials of IAD for the intervention, noting that in addition to the health concerns to humans, the plastics also destroy the environment.

He said: "The best way to prevent plastics from entering the rivers is to control it from the homes and factories and that is why we advocate for the recycling of plastics.

We do the recovery exercise along all the river banks in the state and the results have been encouraging. Whenever we embark on the exercise, we invite off takers who use plastics as raw materials and they usually buy off all the recovered plastics. That is why people now rush to collect plastics at weddings, burials and parties because they know it is money."

He said that the problem manifested so much when the country moved from paper packaging to plastic packaging, explaining that his association has launched plastics recovery programme in all the communities in the state to ensure that they no long find their way into the rivers.