The House of Representatives has raised fears over the prolonged gas seepage in Bille Community, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, drawing attention to the devastating 1986 Lake Nyos gas disaster in Cameroon in which 1,746 people died after a massive release of carbon dioxide.

The warning came on Thursday at an urgent stakeholders’ engagement convened by the House Committee on South-South Development Commission to address the environmental crisis in Bille and the protracted oil spill in Odidi Federated Community, Delta State.

The Lake Nyos tragedy has become a grim reference point in the Bille case after a representative of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) told the committee that its assessment had found pollution affecting the air, surface water, groundwater and sediments in the Rivers community.

At Lake Nyos, a sudden release of carbon dioxide in 1986 produced a deadly gas cloud that moved into surrounding communities, killing people and livestock by displacing oxygen from the air. The disaster remains one of the world’s most devastating gas-related natural catastrophes.

While the Bille incident has not been established as a repeat of the geological phenomenon that occurred at Lake Nyos, the comparison has heightened concerns about the consequences of allowing prolonged gas emissions to continue around a populated community.

Speaking for Bille residents, the community secretary said the gas emission began in 2025 and had since subjected residents to severe hardship. He said the community could no longer safely depend on its natural water sources or fishing activities, while children had developed different forms of skin rashes.

He told the committee that the condition of the water had become particularly alarming, claiming that water fetched in Bille could turn black in less than 10 seconds. According to him, both NOSDRA and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) were already aware of the situation.

The community representative said Bille’s proximity to oil operations on OML 18 and OML 24, operated by Renaissance, had heightened residents’ concerns. He appealed for immediate provision of potable water, stressing that prayers could not constitute a permanent solution to an environmental emergency.

The warning was reinforced by the disruption to education and healthcare in the community. The representative said some pupils had been moved out of the primary school, while a reduction in teaching hours at the secondary school was being considered because of the situation.

He also appealed for the upgrading of the community’s primary healthcare centre, noting that Bille residents face a journey of more than one hour to Port Harcourt when they require more advanced medical attention.

Pondi had earlier expressed concern that the gas seepage had continued for approximately nine months without a clear end in sight. He said the consequences went beyond environmental pollution to affect the community’s health, fishing economy, food security, household income and education.

The Rivers State Government, according to the community representative, has provided N100 million for food and medical outreach, while NUPRC also supplied relief materials. However, he said the materials provided by NUPRC lasted only a few days.

The committee chairman said the House was seeking concrete answers from the operating company, NUPRC, NOSDRA and other relevant agencies on the cause, extent and current status of the gas seepage.

Pondi said the objective was to prevent the Bille situation from becoming another environmental catastrophe that could have been avoided through timely intervention.

He demanded clear responsibilities, measurable timelines and immediate action, insisting that the engagement must not end with expressions of concern and promises without implementation.

The committee will subsequently examine the oil spill at Odidi Federated Community in Delta State, which has reportedly persisted for more than five months.

Pondi said the House would establish the cause of the spill, the containment measures undertaken, the extent of the damage and the status of remediation.

He assured residents of Bille and Odidi that the House would use its oversight powers to pursue appropriate interventions, stressing that communities in the oil-producing South-South region should not continue to pay the price for the exploitation of Nigeria’s natural resources.

The Lake Nyos tragedy, in which a gas release killed more than 1,700 people, remains a stark reminder of the potentially catastrophic consequences of unchecked gas hazards.

For the House committee, the message from Bille is therefore urgent: the lesson from Lake Nyos is not to wait for an environmental warning to become a human catastrophe before decisive action is taken.