{"id":12518,"date":"2016-11-29T18:53:30","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T18:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=12518"},"modified":"2016-11-29T18:53:30","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T18:53:30","slug":"how-men-eat-up-our-land-sand-dredging-in-niger-delta-okies-veeky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=12518","title":{"rendered":"HOW MEN EAT UP OUR LAND (SAND DREDGING) IN NIGER DELTA  OKIES VEEKY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Okies.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12519\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Okies-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"okies\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Okies-300x215.jpg 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Okies.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p>Sand and gravel are very useful to man for the construction and<br \/>\nbuilding of houses, roads, bridges and other infrastructures, this has<br \/>\nmade man to go extra length to source for them not minding the<br \/>\nnegative impact on the environment.<\/p>\n<p>In the course of searching for sand to meet up with high demand, man<br \/>\nhas devised means of dredging lakes, shallow waters, rivers and even<br \/>\nswamps nearby, it has become a booming business in parts of Delta<br \/>\nState to mobilize sand dredgers to sites to source for sand to sell to<br \/>\nthe public and construction companies.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=11703&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Sand dredging is the excavation or removal of sharp sand from under<br \/>\nthe river, lakes, creeks or swamps. It is also the removal of silt,<br \/>\nsediments or debris from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbour and<br \/>\nother water bodies.<\/p>\n<p>Sand dredging is a routine necessity in waterways to ensure the<br \/>\nwaterways are safe for free movements of boats, vessels and other<br \/>\nwater crafts because it is often focused on maintaining or increasing<br \/>\nthe depth of navigation channels.<\/p>\n<p>But this discourse would dwell more on the indiscriminate<br \/>\ncommercialization of dredged sand from shallow and deep rivers nearby,<br \/>\nlakes, swamps and nearby flowing waters by men who have decided to<br \/>\n\u201ceat up the earth\u201d because of their inordinate ambition and craze for<br \/>\nwealth not minding the consequences or negative impact on the people<br \/>\nand environment.<\/p>\n<p>In parts of Delta State, Ughelli North, Okpe, Udu and Uvwie Local<br \/>\nGovernment Areas, specifically in Effurun, Ovwian, Ugolo, Uvwiama,<br \/>\nAgbarho, Oteri and Ughelli towns, businessmen now mobilize locally<br \/>\nmade sand dredgers to shallow rivers running behind these cities and<br \/>\ntowns, lakes, swamps and creeks for sand dredging businesses to dig up<br \/>\nsand for sale to would be developers.<\/p>\n<p>These groups of businessmen and women construct locally made sand<br \/>\ndredgers at a cost of between N4 to N5 Million mobilize to identified<br \/>\nlocations in these cities, one very close to the Agbarho Bridge on the<br \/>\nEast\/West Road, another one opposite it, some around the bridge in<br \/>\nUghelli also on the ever busy East\/West Road, Oteri community in<br \/>\nUghelli and so many others in Ugolo, Okpe L.G.A. Ovwian in Udu and<br \/>\nUvwiama, Agbarho, Ughelli North L.G.A. As soon as they mobilize to<br \/>\nsite, employ a handful of youths, get an excavator to help load sand<br \/>\nin tippers, they are good to go ahead to \u201ceat up the earth\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Findings revealed that these business men\/women register their various<br \/>\nbusiness names, get registered with the State Ministry of Environment<br \/>\n, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and\u00a0 National Inland<br \/>\nWaterways Authority (NIWA). Further findings revealed that these<br \/>\nagencies of government particularly the Local governments and<br \/>\ncommunities that plays host to sites capitalizes on the craze to \u201ceat<br \/>\nthe earth\u201d to boost their internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and most<br \/>\ntimes pay less attention to the impact on the environment as community<br \/>\nexecutives smile to the banks always but the Delta State Ministry of<br \/>\nEnvironment does not only ensure that an Environmental Impact<br \/>\nAssessment (EIA) Report be carried out but insists on best practices<br \/>\nin dredging operations .<\/p>\n<p>According to Dr. Kelvin I. Idehen, Director of Engineering, Petroleum<br \/>\nTraining Institute (PTI), Effurun &#8220;cumulative dredging impact is based<br \/>\non location, technology, bio-diversity, Environmental Impact Plan<br \/>\n(EIP), noise, impairment of fishing activities, visual\/seascape<br \/>\nimpact, damage to existing infrastructures such as bridges, roads,<br \/>\njetties, electric cables and poles, damage to buildings, farmlands<br \/>\namong others.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A number of sand beach owners in Ugolo, Effurun, Uvwiama community,<br \/>\nAgbarho, Oteri Community in Ughelli , Ughelli main town and Ovwian<br \/>\nCommunity, Udu Local Government Area were spoken to in the process of<br \/>\nworking on this piece, quite a sizeable proportion insisted that aside<br \/>\nfrom minor damage to infrastructures (such as roads) which they even<br \/>\nhelp to fix\/repair, their activities does not in any way negatively<br \/>\nimpact the environment or ecosystem rather they are helping government<br \/>\nto solve unemployment problem as well as helping to grow the economy<br \/>\nof where they operate.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Adebayo Oluwaseun, Beach Manager of a sand beach near the Agbarho<br \/>\nBridge explained that they adhere strictly to guidelines and<br \/>\nregulations given to them by the State Ministry of Environment and the<br \/>\nNational Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), some of which are that<br \/>\ndredging sites must be sited three hundred meters away from main roads<br \/>\nand\u00a0 get valid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report before<br \/>\ncommencement of operations but the question is, how are the operators<br \/>\nmonitored to ensure that these conditions are complied with as one<br \/>\nsite in Ovwian sited on Old Ujevwu Road near Daddy Osimini Street,<br \/>\nAchovwe Layout has been operating without an EIA Report and reputed to<br \/>\nbe have caused damage to infrastructures and private buildings with<br \/>\nimpunity until the cry of a concerned landlord whose building is<br \/>\nalmost being washed off at the foundation cried out to the Ministry of<br \/>\nEnvironment that acted swiftly by dispatching a monitoring task force,<br \/>\nthis visit made the operator to go for an EIA Report.<\/p>\n<p>Another businessman, Mr. Simon Oyoka, who has a sand beach in Uvwiama,<br \/>\na community in Agbarho insisted that since he has registered with the<br \/>\nMinistry of Environment and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA)<br \/>\nand got an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, he is not<br \/>\nbreaching nor impacting the environment negatively even when I pointed<br \/>\nout to him that his dredged sand is causing nuisance to a nearby<br \/>\nbuilding as well as damage to other private buildings and roads, he<br \/>\nsaid that after all he is paying over N850,000 annually to the<br \/>\ncommunity just as he is also creating employment for community youths<br \/>\nand maintaining the only access road to the area which is in very bad<br \/>\nshape due to usage by many heavy duty trucks.<\/p>\n<p>One Mr. Oroke Vincent who works in a sand beach in Uvwiama community<br \/>\nin Agbarho insisted that since he gets his daily bread from being<br \/>\nemployed in the place, his boss, owner of a sand dredging beach has<br \/>\ndone what government could not do, he displayed his ignorance by<br \/>\nsaying that, &#8221; what are you talking about? Our job here does not in<br \/>\nanyway impact the environment , the river is already polluted by crude<br \/>\noil spills, so there are no fishes again before we commenced dredging.<br \/>\nHe has created job for us, he now puts food on our table and he has<br \/>\nbeen maintaining the road. &#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On his part, Engr. Godwin Ibekwe, a supervisor with a construction<br \/>\ncompany that &#8216;consumes large quantity of sand for road construction<br \/>\nsaid that he is aware of the impact of sand dredging on the<br \/>\nenvironment hence his company( names withheld) has a policy of<br \/>\nstrictly adhering to laid down procedures of best practice in sourcing<br \/>\nfor sand, adding, &#8220;I am using this opportunity to call on all<br \/>\ngovernment agencies, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with<br \/>\ninterest on the environment and individuals to wake up and protect the<br \/>\nenvironment as some of these sand dredgers are not adhering to laid<br \/>\ndown procedures of best practice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Tega Okorogri, a business man and farmer who resides in Daddy<br \/>\nOsimini Street, Achovwe Layout, Ovwian, Udu Local Government Area was<br \/>\nvery bitter and angry as part of his house is almost been washed away<br \/>\ndue to activities of sand dredgers, he disclosed that the sand beach<br \/>\nthat is less than one hundred meters away from his building against<br \/>\nthe statutory three hundred meters as stipulated by National Inland<br \/>\nWaterways Authority(NIWA) and State Ministry of Environment is causing<br \/>\ngreat damage to his house that has part of his fence fallen and part<br \/>\nof the building&#8217;s foundation almost being washed off.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Okorogri\u00a0 further disclosed that he wrote a petition over the<br \/>\nissue to the Commissioner for Environment, Delta State, adding that<br \/>\nthis made the Ministry to send a team for an on-the-spot assessment<br \/>\nwhere they discovered that the man, &#8216;eating the earth'( owner of the<br \/>\nsand dredging site has no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report<br \/>\nas required by law, adding, &#8220;their visit made the people stop dredging<br \/>\nfor just two days, after which, they commenced again. Government<br \/>\nworkers should take their duty serious, let corruption not blindfold<br \/>\nthem\u00a0 to turn their backs to enable these men( sand dredgers) to<br \/>\ndestroy the environment, my house, they have destroyed the only access<br \/>\nroad to some houses in the layout. Government should come to our aid<br \/>\nbefore the these people whose only motive is to make money and not<br \/>\nbothered as to how the environment should be remediated cause<br \/>\ncollateral damage to the environment and infrastructures.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p>The umbrella association of sand dredgers, Sand Dredgers Association<br \/>\nof Nigeria (SADAN) is like a \u201ctoothless bulldog\u201d as described by Mr.<br \/>\nOluwaseun, he explained that meetings of the association are hardly<br \/>\ncalled, but contacted, Mr. Anthony Awhotu, Chairman, Ughelli North<br \/>\nChapter of the Association that is very vibrant debunked the claim<br \/>\nsaying that the Association under him is now vibrant working for the<br \/>\noverall welfare of members, he added,, &#8220;we ensure that our members<br \/>\nadhere strictly to laid down procedures as we partner government and<br \/>\nstakeholders to ensure that our activities does not in anyway impact<br \/>\nthe environment&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Major concern of all businessmen who operates sand beach is not<br \/>\ndifferent from that of the average Nigeria businessman whose goal is<br \/>\nto make more profit not minding damage done to the environment,<br \/>\ninfrastructures and humans.<\/p>\n<p>On the impact on the communities or the larger society, Chief John<br \/>\nIghoteguono Gbenedio, President-General, Agbarho Urhobo Improvement<br \/>\nUnion (AUIU) that plays host to a number of sand dredging beach came<br \/>\nhard on these men, who are now \u201ceating up the earth\u201d, he called on<br \/>\ngovernment to sanction them saying that their activities on the<br \/>\nAgbarho River is a time bomb waiting to explode as the bridge on the<br \/>\nEast West Road now has a short life span because their dredging<br \/>\nactivities is already exposing the foot (of the bridge) to danger,<br \/>\nadding, \u201cWe in Agbarho don\u2019t know these so other sand dredgers, that<br \/>\nbridge is gradually giving way due to their activities. How can you<br \/>\ndredge sand near the bridge? There are two of such dredging sites on<br \/>\nboth sides of the bridge, this is dangerous. Government should come<br \/>\ndown hard on them, discourage this, our people can no longer go<br \/>\nfishing, what is this? Regulatory agencies should do more in the<br \/>\ninterest of future generations. Regulatory agencies should ensure best<br \/>\npractice in the sand dredging business\u00a0 to ensure that our<br \/>\ninfrastructures such as roads, bridges, electric poles\/wires are not<br \/>\ndestroyed in the process of doing their busines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On his part, Engr. <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_1115621066\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Sunday<\/span><\/span> P. Orhogba Jnr., Secretary, Uvwiama<br \/>\nCommunity in\u00a0 Agbarho Kingdom added that these set of businessmen help<br \/>\nto create employment for teeming unemployed youths.<\/p>\n<p>Contacted on the issue, Hon. John Nani, Commissioner for Environment<br \/>\nsaid the dredgers are constituting ecological menace to the state,<br \/>\nadding that the state government is having legal battles with some of<br \/>\nthem. He said that the state government would not fold it&#8217;s arm to<br \/>\nwatch some few people destroy the environment without looking for ways<br \/>\nto remediate it.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Nani explained that the Ministry is having issues with the<br \/>\nFederal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and National Inland<br \/>\nWaterways(NIWA) as mining is on the Exclusive List to be handled by<br \/>\nthe Federal Government but , &#8220;we at the State level insists that since<br \/>\nwe bear the brunt of impacts, it is proper that we have a say and the<br \/>\nExtant Ecology Law 2006 empowers us to so do.<\/p>\n<p>Corroborating his boss, Mr. Milton Odirin Sagboje, Special Assistant<br \/>\nto the Commissioner has this to say, \u201cthe Honourable Commissioner and<br \/>\nhis team are concerned about the impact of sand dredging on the<br \/>\necosystem, the Ministry has put in place machineries to discourage<br \/>\nanyone who does not carry out operations according to best practice<br \/>\nand laid down procedures, we ensured that every dredging site must<br \/>\nhave an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Report before commencement<br \/>\nof operations, this has discouraged many and reduced the number of<br \/>\noperators to the barest minimum in the state. We also embark on<br \/>\nmonitoring exercise to ensure operators adhere strictly to best<br \/>\npractice. Yes, it is true that government generates revenue from it<br \/>\nbut not, I repeat NOT to the detriment of the people of the state, we<br \/>\nare out to ensure best practice and anyone who flouts it, the hammer<br \/>\nfalls upon him\/her, such operator must be sanctioned, we have done it<br \/>\nbefore, we shall continue to do it to ensure safe environment for<br \/>\nDeltans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Findings revealed that the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel<br \/>\nDevelopment that is statutorily empowered by the constitution to over<br \/>\nsee these activities seems not to be effective in the state as there<br \/>\nare no concrete efforts by them to monitor and supervise the<br \/>\nactivities of sand dredgers in Delta State . If not for the State<br \/>\nMinistry of Environment, these sand dredgers would have been operating<br \/>\nwith impunity and even at that, most of them(dredgers) still do not<br \/>\nfollow best practice.<\/p>\n<p>National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) seems to be embroiled or<br \/>\nconcerned with who should register or have control over the sand<br \/>\ndredgers as there seems to be a no love lost between the Authority and<br \/>\nDelta State Ministry of Environment over who should control, monitor<br \/>\nor collect revenue from sand dredgers.<\/p>\n<p>At the Warri office of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA),<br \/>\nEngr. Daniel Ogbe, Head of Department, Marine explained that the<br \/>\nNational Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Act 2004, the Act<br \/>\nestablishing the Authority empowers the agency to oversee the<br \/>\nactivities, approve sites, give designs and licences for would be sand<br \/>\ndredgers. He explained that the Authority is carrying out its<br \/>\nstatutory roles effectively as they insist on a EIA report, give a<br \/>\nconsiderable distance from any road\/bridge to avoid any damage to<br \/>\nexisting infrastructures by operators.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on how best to remediate the ecosystem\/environment that has<br \/>\nbeen impacted by activities of these men\/women &#8216;eating up our land&#8217;,<br \/>\nDr. Idehen said that a Post Impact Assessment (PIA) Environmental<br \/>\naudit and Environmental status study must be carried out on the<br \/>\necosystem by a Federal Ministry of Environment registered consultant<br \/>\nto identify significant impact and their magnitude.<\/p>\n<p>According to Dr. Idlehen, &#8220;thereafter, remediation, mitigation<br \/>\nmeasures and pollution control and management should be put in place<br \/>\nto address all identified negative impacts,&#8221; he added that government<br \/>\nagencies and all stakeholders to the environment related issues must<br \/>\nall be alive to their responsibilities with a view to save the<br \/>\nenvironment from further degradation.<\/p>\n<p>It is clear that government agencies such as local governments,<br \/>\nFederal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, National Inland<br \/>\nWaterway Authority (NIWA) among others are lackadaisical\u00a0 towards<br \/>\nefforts to protect the environment against negative impact and<br \/>\ndegradation as their monitoring roles are always tainted or tilted<br \/>\ntowards favouring the so called &#8216;cabals&#8217; that\u00a0 &#8216;eats up the earth&#8217;.<br \/>\nThey should carry out their duties effectively and efficiently, abhor<br \/>\ncorruption because environment treated with levity today may fight<br \/>\nback <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_1115621067\"><span class=\"aQJ\">tomorrow<\/span><\/span> with flood,\u00a0 lack of infrastructures, damage to water<br \/>\nchannels, lack of food(seafood) among others.<\/p>\n<p>Government should ensure that the environment (rivers, lakes, shallow<br \/>\nwaters, creeks, infrastructures such bridges, roads, buildings<br \/>\nelectric cables among others) that are at the receiving end (degraded)<br \/>\nby the operations of these sand dredgers are adequately remediated.<br \/>\nThe communities must ensure that guidelines stipulated for<br \/>\nEnvironmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report are strictly adhered to<br \/>\nin the overall interest of the people. And when discovered that the<br \/>\nenvironment or the ecosystem has been impacted negatively, all<br \/>\nagencies of government, Non Governmental Organizations with bias for<br \/>\nthe environment, the community and individuals must all rise up to the<br \/>\nchallenge to ensure that thorough remediation activities are carried<br \/>\nout or else, in no distant time, as we do not put back what is taken<br \/>\nfrom the environment to sustain it, the resultant effects could best<br \/>\nbe imagined. To be warned is to be armed, so, men\/women who are<br \/>\n&#8216;eating up the earth&#8217; must have a re-think, work to help sustain the<br \/>\nenvironment to avoid colossal\u00a0 damage that would be to the detriment<br \/>\nof all.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><code><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=11703&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n<p><code><a href=\"http:\/\/market.jumia.com.ng\/men-shoes\/?utm_source=pap&amp;utm_medium=aff&amp;utm_campaign=0bed9dec&amp;a_aid=Omafume&amp;a_bid=0bed9dec\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" title=\"\" src=\"\/\/kaymu.postaffiliatepro.com\/accounts\/default1\/a72f75b38\/0bed9dec.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"655\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 0;\" src=\"http:\/\/kaymu.postaffiliatepro.com\/scripts\/a72f75i38?a_aid=Omafume&amp;a_bid=0bed9dec\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/code><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sand and gravel are very useful to man for the construction and building of houses, roads, bridges and other infrastructures, this has made man to go extra length to source for them not minding the negative impact on the environment. In the course of searching for sand to meet up with high demand, man has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[3331,3332,3333,3330],"class_list":["post-12518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-adebayo-oluwaseun","tag-chief-john-ighoteguono-gbenedio","tag-john-nani","tag-kelvin-i-idehen"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Okies.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-3fU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12520,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518\/revisions\/12520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}