Fresh oil spill hits Rivers community

A fresh oil spill has occurred at the Ikata community, Ahoada east local government area of Rivers state.

In a statement on Monday, Fyneface Dumnamene, executive director (ED) of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), said the spill occurred on a 14-inch pipeline right of way.

According to the statement, the pipeline is operated by Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (RAEC), the firm that recently acquired the assets of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

Fyneface said the incident was reported to the centre by members of the One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta, as well as those under the auspices of its Crude Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS) in the area.

He said the spill point, suspected to be caused by third-party interference, “is seriously spilling crude oil into the environment and destroying the ecosystem in the surrounding area”.

“The group also said a visit by its volunteers in the area to the spill site this morning (Monday) 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, as can also be seen in short videos and photographs shared with Advocacy Centre,” Dumnamene said.

Confirming the development to TheCable on Tuesday, Bamidele Odugbesan, manager of communications, media and non-governmental organisation (NGO) relations at Renaissance Africa, said the company has promptly taken measures to isolate and halt production in the pipeline.

“The Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited confirms a reported incident affecting the 14-inch Okordia-Rumuekpe Pipeline at Ikata in Rivers State,” he said.

“We have taken immediate steps to isolate and discontinue production into the pipeline to minimise any potential environmental impact.”

Odugbesan said the government regulators have been informed, and “we are actively coordinating the statutory joint investigation visit, which will include their representatives and those from the local community”.