Killer
Masts of death
For those living with Telecom Masts , there are grave
dangers. Taiwo Abiodun reports
’’ The first time the communication mast was tested , I ran away with my family and could not sleep at home for days for
we could not withstand it.. The fume
coming out from the big generator was killing, the sound was deafening while
the thick odour, heat and vibration was too much a burden to bear ”.
That was the beginning of the trouble
for Pa Afolabi Oyekanmi, who is now pleading with MTN to come and take away their equipment as the
Pa Oyekanmi’s building is about three metres from where the mast is located .
He describes the Mast as a killing
squad. Narrating how it all started , he said ’’ I have been living here since
2006, but suddenly I saw my neighbour who brought some people here who came to
inspect it in 2008, I inquired what they were trying to do but the owner only
smiled and told me it is just a
construction of a building . In a
nutshell, a mast was erected. Unknown to me they started keeping some of the materials in my house. I received
all with joy as a Christian and thought it was all from a genuine and honest mind
Oyekanmi while
talking to this reporter would once in a
while look at the mast and at his fragile body . He fumed ’’ I regretted entertaining these
people and their materials .Cursed was the
day the mast was erected here .I am
informed that they are planning to come back and start the engine again,
but I can assure you that it will not
last . If I die the MTN is responsible. I will fight with
the last pint of my blood if they ever come back here to start the engine ‘’, the 72year -old man vowed
. He then stormed into his room to bring
out a file consisting a heap of letters and petitions written to various institutions,
organisations and the
medical report he kept. This is my medical
report from the hospital , now I am very
, very sick and I know how much I spend
to buy drugs .
The septuagenarian lives
in Ado Ekiti. His medical report from the Ado Ekiti Teaching
Hospital indicates that he is suffering
from some diseases caused by radiation from the telecommunication mast erected by the
MTN T3756 .
Narrating his ordeal, he said the man who bought the small piece
of land and let it out to MTN no longer come to the place again. ’’I faced horror. I saw hell. I became sick and was rushed to the hospital
several times . When I recovered I
decided to write petitions to the House of Assembly, Ministry of Environment
and Public Complaints Commission . I
went to the governor and I also went to Ibadan , their Zonal office . Thank God that the state governor Fayemi stepped in and the House of Assembly members .After much cries the place was eventually
sealed up but the MTN men are now boasting of coming back to continue their
business again. They said they [MTN ]built hospitals and buy drugs for Nigerians as part of their own
contribution. .
‘’ One of the
officials said they would come back in
one of these days to start it again and
that would be impossible for we would
then face a tug of war’’, he swore .His wife , a retired school principal added ‘’ it
is a pity that we don’t have a law in this country , and even if we do nobody obeys the law or may be some are bigger than the law’’
Pa Afolabi Oyekanmi’s
health is deteriorating. He has been
diagnosed to be suffering from a disease suspected to be cancer from the effect
of the radiation he is exposed to.
From the hospital he was
given a Medical report dated 18th January ,2011 with hospital card
number161830. It reads:
This elderly man who
is a subsistent farmer was
brought into the accident and Emergency Unit of our hospital on 16/1/11 at
10;50pm with complaints of loss of
consciousness associated with convulsions .He is not a known Epileptic, Diabetic, Hypertensive or Asthmatic .Findings on examinations showed lowish BP 90/50 mmHg and subsequent follow up showed low blood sugar RBS 4.7mmol/L,He is presently being managed as a case of seizure
disorder.…….Precipant of the
disorder may include machinery
vibrations, twinkling light flashes
height and depth, hypoglycaemia and hypotension .It is apparent that locating
the MTN mast too close to their house is
detrimental and hazardous to his
medical condition if not the cause.
Kindly
give necessary assistance to address the problem. The letter was signed by
the Chief Medical Director , Dr.Adeleye
T.E
The
old man has vowed to fight to finish with the MTN if they resurface again and start
the engine.
In Ibadan, the MTN mast with number T3938, has caused a lot of havoc in Unique Estate ,off Olounda Road. While
some have deserted their houses others
could not as they have no where to go.
In fact going round the environment
speaks volume as doors and windows were shut .
For Dr.Ogundipe , his family members are all in trouble as
they are all suffering from different ailments. His wife , Mrs Adebusola Ogundipe was diagnosed of blood cancer, leukaemia while
some of her children are having loss of memory coupled with nose
bleeding and have made them to become
visitors to hospital.
Speaking with The Nation, the woman who is a Biology
Teacher at N.O Idowu Comprehensive High
School, Ibadan said ‘’ we are the first set of people to build a house here, but suddenly we saw the
owner of this small land who came to
erect MTN ’s mast here. We fought tooth and nail to make sure it was not
erected in 2008 because we know the implication .My husband is a Veterinary Doctor and he too tried to resist the owner and the mast’s engineers from erecting it, but
they said the MTN has paid the ransom of
the lives of every Nigerian to the presidency so therefore can erect their
masts anywhere that suits them in the
country.
According to Mrs
Ogundipe , it all started from the heavy
smoke coming from the generating set
.’’Despite the fact that we close all our windows and doors to stop the air
from the generator from coming in yet we began to inhale the air
from the generating set. Whenever the Telecom mast is working our beddings
would be vibrating forcing us to be sleeping on the floor. The walls have
cracked and we have nowhere to go , so we were forcing ourselves to
stay ‘’.
Mrs Ogundipe later started having health problem , she said ‘’I
started feeling dizzy and bleeding from the nose and at the intial stage I did not tell my
husband until it persisted .I ended
up at the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan where
I underwent series of tests, including T Scan. It was here that I
was told that I have leukaemia in 2010.The medical doctor
advised us to pack out of the house we live since the result showed that we are
exposed to radio activity. I have spent
a lot on drugs and I feel for my husband if I happen to die
today , blame the MTN who brought their mast into our area’’.
From the medical report dated 8th July ,2011she had from
the University Teaching Hospital[UCH] the medical director wrote among other things ,Mrs Ogundipe has been
residing at her current address since 2006 during which she had enjoyed sound health. But in 2008 a Telecommunication
base station was sited next to her house
and since them the family had experienced noise
and vibrations .The most recent alteration in her health was the nose bleeding and the sensation of pain and tingling in the legs. These were also noted in her
children……However, the hematologic study conducted revealed neutropenia, lymphocytosis
and platelet count of 147,000 per cmm.While PTT test was 41 and control 32,[prolonged].The
features appear to be in keeping with
leukaemia.
She has been advised to relocate to avoid further
exposure to radiation from telecommunication base station .She also expected to report regularly at the hospital to monitor her blood profile. The letter was signed
by Dr A. A. Adeosun[Consultant ENT Surgeon].
The woman in a sorrowful laden voice said; ‘’The result says
that there was a long ray radiation and
is affecting me. We were asked to pack out of the house , that was the
judgement of the medical doctor.’’
Dr.Ogundipe said it
is not only his wife that is suffering from such ailment as his children too
are having same problem. ’’ all my children are now
experiencing nose,
loss of memory and also have tingling pains in their legs. We are in
trouble’’, she said .
A civil engineering company
came to test the building and discovered it has some defects , this was
done by HEA-BOND ENGINEERS
[CONSULTANT AND PROJECT DEVELOPERS].The report was shocking as the civil engineering reports showed which was
dated 13th July 2011.In the
letter the Engineer wrote….. Site measurement showed that Dr.Ogundipe ‘s
house wall is 3.7m from the perimeter
base wall of the MTN station while it is 3.65m away from Mr Oluwadare’s
house block wall. Dr.Ogundipe also has a well located in front of his house which is 4.8m away to the house block wall.
While on site
noise emanated from the generator which powers the station and there4 is
vibration on the foundation soil around the area, Close examinations on both
houses situated to the left and right of
the base station shows cracks in some areas
such as window edges etc. ………….Structurally, the daily continuous
vibration being transmitted through the soil could cause cracks in the foundation
and walls of the buildings especially
the walls of the well located in front of the houses .The letter was signed
by Engineer A Dare
Dr. Ogundipe said the environment has suffered a lot
of losses . ‘’Some of my domestic animals like goats have died as a result of this radio
activity. Some developed tumours, some
just bled to death while some too
suffered cancer, paralysis and some died of sudden death. One of these
goats was already heavy with pregnancy but we just saw the goat somersaulted under
the mast and died .It was like a film. The reason why it had serious effect on
them is that the animals used to sleep under the telecommunication mast. My chickens are dying , I hardly rear many again. Our
well water has been polluted or rather contaminated. The pawpaw we have in our compound no longer ripe as
they just fall off when they got to the stage of been ripe.
Dr. Ogundipe argues that
the NCC did not follow the radius metres the WHO suggested . MTN contradicted the law
as our house is only about 2 or 3 metres
to their mast..
‘’Many people are affected here now, some have abandoned
their houses and went back to their villages either to die or….I know of
a man who had left here for his home town, he had all the symptoms my
wife and my children have .I also heard of one
Professor [Sadiku] whom I was informed once lived
in GRA, he died from cancer which they said was caused by radio activity
.The professor had a mast in his
compound and was diagnosed of cancer as a result of the mast before he died.’’
Mr Oludare who lives
close to Ogundipe had abandoned his house and gone to rent another place. He said’’ I have shut all
the doors to my house and abandoned it when I started having symptoms of legs
tingling of which the wife of Dr Ogundipe has .Two of my children are all bleeding from their noses while
one is suffering from memory loss. The one suffering from memory loss is
14years old while the other two are 11 and 10years old. It is a sad thing to
leave one’s house and become a tenant again
.
When The Nation visited the National Environmental Standard Regulations Enforcement Agency [NESREA], Mrs Eunice Oyibo Eze the Deputy Director , Lagos
state Co-ordinator blamed both the MTN saying ‘’ while the NTM and other telecommunication industries who
sited their masts in wrong places are guilty as they did not follow the guidelines laid
down by the NCC. We all know the effect
of radio active and it causes cancer , that is why we asked the telecom
industries to obey the rules and make sure they install the mast 10metres to the wall of a residential building ’’
They [Telecom companies] meet the landlords gave them money and erect the mast anywhere
in the compound without following the modalities and this is what is causing all these
illnesses especially cancer. In fact any
of the telecom industries found guilty must be punished ’’
Speaking on the dangers of the mast, she said ‘’ not only is
the noise coming from the generating set causes hearing loss but also the fumes is dangerous while the
vibration coming from the it causes
walls of the building to be cracking. The oil spillage contaminated underground water and the engine
oil contains high level of lead and could contaminate water from the well.
The lead too is dangerous to one’s health’’
She however blamed
the landlords too for being greedy and refusal to obey the regulations thus
receiving blood money.’’The landowners and landlords pay off their lives and
that of others because of money and this is bad. The Agency cannot control the
land owners or landlords but could only educate , sensitise them to give them awareness. Sometimes
ago, a mast fell from above in a
compound in Akwa Ibom and killed’’.
Eze said there is a regulation gazetted by the Federal Government on the telecom to regulate the sitting of the masts and they will adhere strictly to it , she
promised and said there would not be any
compromise.
On prosecution she
said ‘’ the telecom industries should be prosecuted for flouting the laws. ’’They
take laws into their hands and behave as
if there is no law guiding their industry and that was because nobody had been
checking them before .Now, NESREA is the
first to bring out regulations on telecom .And it is there to enforce the law.
‘’Today , many are dying in silence while others who are not
aware of the side effects have turned
hospitals to their second homes as
they are suffering from various
diseases from leukaemia to nose bleeding. Many have died without
visiting hospital thus there was no autopsy carried out to find out the cause
of their deaths and with the belief
that no man dies on his own way in Africa,
but believing it has enemies’ hands.
‘’Now burials take
place almost every weekends in the
villages as some ignorantly claim it is enemies’ handiwork yet many who go to the
hospital are returning home with
medical reports that the masts
are the causative agents of the recorded deaths, said Mr Yemi Adeseyi.
Some medical doctors interviewed described the matter as an
urgent one that needs government attention .’’Since Directors from University
Teaching Hospitals have conducted tests on the patients and the result showed that they have cancer then they have spoken. The MTN must be compelled to pay damages .’’ one of
the doctors who begged for anonymity stated.
However when The Nation visited MTN’s head office at the Golden Gate, Victoria
Island office twice, to hear from their
own side of the story Andrew
Okeleke the External
Communication Manager refused to see
this reporter but asked him to send his questions and medical reports the
complainants sent to him through his e mail .
.
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