A fresh oil spill has reportedly occurred in Ikthe ata community in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Guardian gathered that the spill occurred in the early hours of Monday, May 5, 2025, on a 14-inch pipeline right of way operated by Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (RAEC), the company that recently acquired the assets of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited in a \$2.4 billion divestment deal.
According to eyewitnesses, the spill is suspected to have been caused by third-party interference, as findings showed that the vandals allegedly excavated the ground and vandalised the 14-inch pipe along the Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline right of way, which is currently spewing crude oil into the environment.
The oil spill was confirmed by the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), through its one Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta, as well as volunteers under its Crude Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS) in the area.
The state has, since January 2025, recorded about four devastating spills across the local government areas.
According to the Executive Director of the Centre, Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, the spill is seriously discharging crude oil into the environment and destroying the ecosystem in the surrounding area.
Fyneface therefore called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to carry out a joint investigation visit (JIV) to the spill site with a view to determining the actual cause of the spill and invoking the relevant section of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, to hold the alleged perpetrators to account.
