TheCable

Ogbia local government, home to former president Goodluck Jonathan, is groaning of thirst and environmental degradation after another Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) pipeline spilled crude oil  into what is arguably the most important river in the region.

According to Sodaguwa Festus-Omoni, the lawmaker representing Ogbia federal constituency at the house of  representatives, the spillage was due to non-replacement of expired pipelines by the international oil company.

“I got a call from my royal majesty about two, three weeks ago that there is a problem in my constituency, and that there was an oil spill,” she told Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show.

“I was very disturbed and I think two days later, I went to find out for myself. I went down with a crew, and to my dismay I found out that it was true, that there was an oil spill in the middle of Ekoli creek.

Children at the river after the oil spill

“It was oil  pipeline that burst, and there was a huge spill on the 27th of October, when the flood season was very high.”

She said the oil pipeline, which belongs to Shell, is over 40 years old and should normally be replaced after 20 years.

Festus-Omoni said she had reported the “disaster” to the house of  representatives, and five committees of the house — Upstream, Oil and Gas, environment, NEMA, and Compliance — have been commissioned to follow up on the oil spill.

GOVERNMENT ALWAYS SLOW ON SPILLAGE

“On my own, I am reaching out to NEMA. With this kind of spillage, the process of getting government to move is slow; they’ve (the oil companies) taken it for granted that this can be buried.

“From the accounts of one of the youth leaders of one of the communities, it had happened before, they had written to shell and nothing was done until now; that was 10 years ago.

“I think it is a practice of these oil majors to cover up. They take it for granted that the people are so ignorant that it will not go anywhere. If 10 years ago it had happened, then I was not  in the national assembly.”

She lawmaker said the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), the regulating agency in charge, should have responded rapidly in terms of relief materials, medical tests and so on.

SHELL HAS MANY EXPIRED PIPELINES IN THE NIGER DELTA

She said because of the inaction of the federal government, many IOCs have gotten away with the use of expired pipelines in the Niger Delta.

“Some people will say this is as a result of the Niger Delta vandalisation and all; this is not it. This is pure negligence of Shell and the regulating agencies of government in trying to know the age of pipes.

“The Niger Delta is littered with pipes that have expired. Because of what is happening in the Niger Delta, everything is attributed to vandalism, youth restiveness.

“We are dying in silence; our voice is not heard. Even when we speak our voice is not heard. The people are desperate; look at what has happened, nobody has said anything, not in the newspaper; nobody has come to talk about it.”

Mark Dummett, business and human rights researcher at Amnesty international, corroborates the story, saying that Shell claims to have cleaned up the spill centres but they are still highly polluted.

Wongo Otuokpoti XIV, primary ruler of Otuokpoti community, one of the communities affected, told The Osasu Show that two people died as a result of the spill. He said the “facilities should be changed after 20 years”.

He added that the pipe has “stayed for about forty something years without any change so the facility has been expired long ago”.

“Our major source of water is the river, and the river is being polluted by oil,” he said, lamenting the community’s inability to access water for drinking, washing and other basic needs.

Children bathing, washing at the river weeks after the oil spill

Sarah Obolo, a witness, said “we had so many children bathing at the river, farmers were at the farm” on the day the spillage was recorded.

She said the farms were affected, children bathing at the river collapsed, while old women living at the river bank were also affected.

SHELL IS ‘INVESTIGATING’ THE OIL SPILL

In a statement by Precious Okolobo, Shell’s media relations manager, the company said it was “investigating reports of an oil spill on the Nun River – Kolo Creek Pipeline, which crosses the Ekoli River, the sole link between SPDC and AGIP pipelines with the Otuokpiti community”.

“It is important to note that SPDC’s Diebu Creek and Nun River flow stations which produce into the Nun River – Kolo Creek Pipeline were not open when the spill reportedly occurred on 9th October 2016. The Diebu Creek and Nun River flow stations remain shut ensuring no flow into or out of the Nun River – Kolo Creek Pipeline,” read the statement.

“Under Nigerian regulations, the cause and impact of an oil spill are determined by a Joint Investigation Visit comprising regulators, state government officials, community representatives and SPDC personnel.

“An attempt by a team comprising regulators and representatives of the local government council, communities and SPDC to further investigate the reports at the Agbura Community waterfront (Ekoli river) yesterday (November 30, 2016) was stopped by community youths.

“SPDC therefore cannot comment on the cause of spill at this time, although we continue to monitor the situation.”