Reps decry oil leakages in Southern Ijaw communities

The House of Representatives yesterday decried oil spillage in the southern Ijaw communities of Bayelsa State.

Adopting a motion under matters of national importance sponsored by Rodney Ebikebina Ambaiowei at the plenary presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abass, the Lakers called on relevant authorities in the country to wade into the matter.

The House particularly called on the management of all the companies who own oil facilities along the coastal areas to immediately contain and stop the oil leakages from their facilities at Beinghentoru Rivet, affecting Foropah, Ekeni and Ezetu Kingdoms and other Communities in Southern Ijaw.

The House also mandated the House Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) to synergize with relevant ministries, Departments and agencies of government to carry out an extensive investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the spillage, to ascertain which company’s facility is responsible for the spill, ensure remediation activities is put in place to contain the Spillage and avert future occurrence.

The panel is to assess the extent of devastation and its impact on the coastal communities of Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency and Report to the House for further legislative action.

The House further called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), National Oil Pollution Management Agency (NOPMA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the Federal Ministry of Environment to pay assessment visits on the site with a view to ascertaining the level of environmental damage and recommend appropriate remedial measures.

Ambaiowei, representing Southern Ijaw, on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) argued that the spillage of oil was in clear breach of the Petroleum Industry Act and the Oil Spill Recovery, Clean-Up, Remediation and Damage, Assessment Regulation, 2011 as well as the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, which set out operational standards and guidelines dealing with Oil spillages to protect the environment, economic interest and health of Host Communities who bear the impact of Oil spillages and production.

He disclosed that on the 3rd of January, 2024, the people of Foropah, Ekeni and Ezetu Kingdoms woke up to a devastating Oil Spillages from the Atlantic which destroyed their only source of livelihood, which is fishing and Farming.

He claimed that the findings revealed that the oil spill was occasioned by leakages from the facilities operated by First E& P, Connoil, NEPL, SPDC and NIGDEL UNITED OIL Company which owns oil installations in and around the Beinghentoru River.

He added: ” I am disturbed that the referenced oilfield does not only constitute one of the largest deep water operations in Nigeria, it also covers a large swathe of Southern Ijaw coastal waters. The volume of the damage recorded since 3rd of January 2024 and till date, if not quickly arrested, this leakage will lead to the pollution of the waters and their contents in the surrounding areas leading to a near-annihilation of aquatic lives which randomly show up at the coastal shores of the Middleton communities and Southern Ijaw coastal communities.

“Worried that despite the prompt reporting of this incident, the slow reaction of the companies who own these facilities around these coastal lines to take responsibility coupled with the lethargic attitude of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to promptly contain the oil Spillage could lead to massive unrests among youths and other residents of the impacted Southern Ijaw coastal communities, who are predominantly fishermen and women whose livelihood, health and right to clean and safe environment is being violated by the continuous spillage.”