{"id":89955,"date":"2023-06-15T09:21:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T08:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu"},"modified":"2023-06-15T12:56:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T11:56:12","slug":"disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu","title":{"rendered":"Disband anti-deforestation taskforce immediately \u2013 Experts, community leaders urge Gov Otu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Environmental experts and community leaders have urged Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State to immediately disband the anti-deforestation taskforce he appointed about a week ago.<\/p>\n

The forest stakeholders met in Calabar on Wednesday at the second multi-stakeholders\u2019 conference on deforestation organised by a group called \u2018We The People\u2019.<\/p>\n

They alleged that more than 80 per cent of the taskforce members engage in illegal wood logging on a large scale.<\/p>\n

Two former chairmen of the state forestry commission, Dr Odigha Odigha and Peter Jenkins, as well as the paramount ruler of Boki LGA of the state, alongside other forest experts, like Ken Henshaw, raised the alarm, insisting that the state government must disband the taskforce immediately.<\/p>\n

The 21-man taskforce is headed by one Mr Charles Ikpeme, while the Secretary is Chief Cyril Anthony.<\/p>\n

The one-day workshop also accused a good number of the State House of Assembly members of aiding deforestation in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe formation of the taskforce by Gov Bassey Otu is a very dangerous signal to forest management in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very afraid that they cannot achieve anything because more than 80% of the members are among the key men that plunder our remaining forests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey and some state legislators are members of dreaded armed cartels which, with connivance with some Chinese nationals, terrorise local forest activists and guides and reap several millions of Naira from illegal logging.<\/p>\n

\u201cComposition of that taskforce does not augur well for the state; it is the greatest blunder, a disturbing signal from the government. We have not seen anyone there who is a forest protagonist. That taskforce can mar the government of Senator Bassey Otu if not dissolved now\u201d, the experts said.<\/p>\n

Ken Henshaw, convener of the workshop, said they lost it when the governor failed to read the Riot Act on deforestation during his inaugural address.<\/p>\n

Reacting to similar allegations, secretary of the taskforce, Chief Cyril Anthony denied that they were illegal wood loggers.<\/p>\n

He said the state governor properly consulted with stakeholders before he approved of the membership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not true that the taskforce members engage in illegal deforestation, otherwise the governor won\u2019t appoint us\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Environmental experts and community leaders have urged Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State to immediately disband the anti-deforestation taskforce he appointed about a week ago. The forest stakeholders met in Calabar on Wednesday at the second multi-stakeholders\u2019 conference on deforestation organised by a group called \u2018We The People\u2019. They alleged that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[1570,2140,567,254,10044],"class_list":["post-89955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-deforestation","tag-nigeria","tag-otu"],"yoast_head":"\nDisband anti-deforestation taskforce immediately \u2013 Experts, community leaders urge Gov Otu - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Environmental experts and community leaders have urged Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State to immediately disband t ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disband anti-deforestation taskforce immediately \u2013 Experts, community leaders urge Gov Otu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Environmental experts and community leaders have urged Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State to immediately disband t ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-15T08:21:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-15T11:56:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/sm_1686813869.469438.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Disband anti-deforestation taskforce immediately \u2013 Experts, community leaders urge Gov Otu\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-15T08:21:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-15T11:56:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu\"},\"wordCount\":382,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/sm_1686813869.469438.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Nigeria\",\"deforestation\",\"Nigeria\",\"Otu\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/disband-anti-deforestation-taskforce-immediately-experts-community-leaders-urge-gov-otu\",\"name\":\"Disband anti-deforestation taskforce immediately \u2013 Experts, community leaders urge Gov Otu - 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