A fresh oil spill from the Ogboinbiri-Tebidaba pipeline owned by Oando plc in Bayelsa State’s Southern Ijaw Local Government Area has polluted water sources, farmlands, fishing gear, wetlands, crops, and the environment.
The incident, which was reported on Friday, is claimed to be spewing crude into rivulets and woodlands near the Apoi Creek, and it is rapidly expanding due to floods caused by heavy rain, which has caused the neighbouring rivers and creeks to overflow onto farmlands.
According to the residents, the oil spill facility inherited by Oando from Nigeria Agip Oil Company, is discharging hundreds of barrels of crude oil into Apoi Creek, swamps and farmlands around the vicinity.
Consequently, indigenes and residents of the community are said to have lost their means of livelihoods as farm produce has been destroyed while fishermen can’t go out for fishing.
Consequently, indigenes and residents of the community are said to have lost their means of livelihoods as farm produce has been destroyed while fishermen can’t go out for fishing.
One month ago, specifically on September 5, an oil spill from the same Ogboinbiri-Tebidaba pipeline occurred in the community, which was said to have been caused by equipment failure and a rupture at the facility.
They said the spill was reported with crude bubbling out of the pipeline buried under the water connecting the Ogiori stream flowing to the Apoi Creek.
The spill, which has spread faster due to rising flood levels has impacted adversely on the Apoi Creek and swathes of marshland and farmlands of Apoi clan in Southern Ijaw with communities such as Keme-Ebiama, Kokologbeni, Gbaraun, Apoi and as far as Ukubie.
The Chairman, Council of Chiefs in Keme-Ebiama, Chief Newstyle Ogiori, who lamented about the incident, said with the pollution of the water bodies in the area, their source of water and other means of livelihood had been affected.
Some natives of the area, Mr. Timi Koripamo, and Mrs. Gradeone Nikki, said they have always been on the receiving end of crude oil exploitation and exploration activities, calling for proper clean up and compensation.
Paramount ruler of Ogboinbiri community, Chief Okosughe Eseimokumo, stated that the previous oil spill has not been cleaned up, and no relief materials given to the affected communities, warning that with the ongoing pollution, there would be a challenge to food security in the area.
Deputy Executive Director of the Environmental Defenders Network, Chief Alagoa Morris, who visited the spill site for on the spot assessment called on Oando and other multinationals to put an end to frequent oil spills by replacing ageing pipelines and other infrastructure.
Recently, the House of Representatives Committee on Environment had issued a 7-day ultimatum to Oando and AITEO Chief Executives to appear before it in connection to the worsening environmental degradation in oil producing communities, particularly in Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa State owing to their operations in the area.
