| Updated Wed, February 15th 2017 at 10:03 GMT +3(Photo: News Wire)Port Harcout: Nigeria declared an air pollution emergency in a major southern city on Tuesday and closed an asphalt plant there after residents complained about the fumes from its furnaces, in a country plagued by corruption and poor governance. Residents staged a protest in Port Harcourt, a harbor city in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, waving their hands in the air to show the soot stains from touching cars. "The Federal Ministry of Environment has declared the air pollution in Port Harcourt an emergency situation and has subsequently issued a notice to temporarily shut down an asphalt processing plant...belching out thick smoke," the government said in a statement. "If I am having my bath, the color of the water, the stains on the sink are always black," businessman Charles Adolor said. Under British colonial rule, Port Harcourt was known as a "Garden City" due to its green parks, but a rapidly growing population has congested its pot-holed roads and cramped its residential quarters.

Source: Standard Digital February 15, 2017 06:56 UTC