A fresh crude oil spill has occurred in Ogale, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, yesterday, marring the excitement of signing into law the Federal University of Environmental Technology, in Ogoni, by President Bola Tinubu.

The bill for the Federal University passed by the National Assembly was sponsored by Senator Barinaadaa Mpigi who represents the Rivers South-East Senatorial District.

The Guardian gathered that the oil spill occurred at the Ogale Manifold owned and operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria. The manifold spilled, after it filled the underground pits.

It was learnt that the spill started flowing freely to the pipeline right of way that separated Lot-1 of the Ogoni cleanup Project of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) of the Federal Ministry of Environment in Ogale.

Members of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre’s (YEAC-Nigeria) “One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders, confirmed the incident.

According to the volunteers, in a statement by the Executive Director, YEAC-Nigeria, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, the accident was caused by equipment (valve) failure and contactors were seen carrying out maintenance work on the facility.

The volunteers alleged that there was a violent application of force by the Eleme Youth President, Mr. Walter Olaka during his visit to the spill site with alleged armed boys, “confiscating trucks that were being used to evacuate the spilled crude oil, beating up some of the drivers whose trucks were already seized and parked at the Eleme Council Secretariat and injuring some persons in the process including Mr. Gift Gongogo Nene who was allegedly daggered on the head by some boys invaded the scene with dangerous weapons”.

While calling for Police investigation into the incidents with a view to restoring peace among the warring parties, the Advocacy Centre, through its Crude Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS), Fyneface urged the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to carry out a joint investigation visit (JIV) on the spill site.

“We appeal to the management of NOSDRA to, as a matter of urgency, invoke sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021 and ensure that containment and clean-up are done with adequate compensation paid to those whose economic crops are negatively impacted by the spill in the area”, Fyneface said.