By Solomon Tembang Mforgham, Africanews reporter in Limbe, Cameroon

Fish consumers in the town of Limbe in the South West region of Cameroon are reportedly at risk after an alleged oil spill in the sea that washes the coast of south west Cameroon.

It is worth noting that there are many companies drilling for crude oil far into the sea and the town also hosts a refinery. However, officials of most of the oil drilling companies and the refinery have reportedly denied being responsible for the alleged oil spill.

Meanwhile, assessing the situation, an environmental expert of a Limbe-based advocacy group, OGCEYOD, Emmanuel Ndinga, said what he saw was really devastating because oil spillage has never occurred on the shores of the South West region of Cameroon, adding that petroleum is very toxic as far as the environment is concerned.

Emmanuel Ndinga stated that oil spill destroys the aquatic system as species of fish and some other organisms depend on the aquatic system for their survival and that the oil blocks oxygen from being used by these organisms and causes suffocation. He said these fishes thus die in their numbers and float in the high sea.

These dead fishes, Ndinga continued, are easily carted away by fishermen without necessarily knowing what killed them and when they are consumed, they are poisonous and toxic to the human system.

It is worth noting that most of the fishermen around the area are ignorant about the environmental effects and health hazards they may be promoting by selling intoxicated fish.

At Down Beach, Limbe a few fishermen were returning from the high sea, rejoicing that they had a huge catch. But a closer look at their boats showed that most of what they had as fish catch for the day were allegedly fish already killed by lack of oxygen caused by the oil in the water. The fishes still had oil on them and smelt of oil or petrol.

The environmental expert, Emmanuel Ndinga, has thus advised the Limbe community and its environs to abstain from consuming these fishes.

While the local government official in charge of the environment and nature protection is reportedly aware of the disaster and has sent a report to his hierarchy, no official statement on the issue has been made by the government of Cameroon.

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