A fresh oil spill has reportedly occurred in Ikata Community, Ahoada East Local Council of Rivers State.
The Guardian gathered that the spill occurred in the early hours yesterday, 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 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, since January 2025, has recorded about four devastating spills across the local council.
According to the Executive Director of the Centre, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, crude oil is spilling 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 to determine the actual cause of the spill and invoke the relevant section of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, to hold alleged perpetrators to account.
