The Ijaw Professionals Association (IPA), in collaboration with the Coalition of Ijaw Interest Groups (CIIG), has called for organised advocacy and lawful mass action over the worsening gas pollution in Bille Community, Rivers State.

The group said the situation, which allegedly left gas bubbling across the community’s land, rivers and water wells, had gone beyond routine complaints and correspondence. In a statement signed by its President, Pattison Boleigha, and Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Gen. Paul Alaowei Toun (rtd), the association said both groundwater and surface water in Bille had been contaminated, while the community’s water wells were producing blackish water.
 
“The entire Bille environment has been rendered unfit for human habitation by decades of unmitigated oil and gas pollution,” the group said.

The association also linked the worsening crisis to the death of Joy Amos, a community resident who, according to the statement, died last week after suffering severe burns from a gas explosion. It described the incident and the wider environmental degradation as a “crime against humanity,” accusing governments and oil companies of failing to take adequate measures to protect residents and restore the environment.
 
The group blamed the Federal Government, petroleum ministers, oil companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), the Rivers State Government, lawmakers representing the community, the local council chairman and some traditional rulers for alleged failures to address the crisis.
 
The association also criticised the diversion of resources that could support environmental advocacy and legal action into political campaigns.  “We keep dancing around issues and expect results,” it said, adding that letters, delegations and appeals had failed to produce meaningful action.

The IPA called on the Ijaw people to pursue sustained lawful mass action until “concrete and verifiable steps” are taken to address Bille’s plight. It also appealed to international organisations, including the United Nations, World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Amnesty International, to intervene and seek humanitarian relief, environmental justice and accountability.