•Tests reveal hydrocarbon poisoning in women’s blood, soil, water samples
…battle miscarriages, low birth rate, early menopause, others
When the crude oil that placed Nigeria among leading oil producing nations was first discovered in commercial quantity in Otuabagi, a suburb of Oloibiri community in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State in 1958, the people had high hopes that their lives would be positively impacted from the proceeds. From the period of the discovery 67 years ago till date, the living conditions of the people have rather taken a turn for the worse. All they have to show for producing the black gold is a harvest of strange diseases, a contaminated environment, and a future filled with uncertainty, INNOCENT DURU reports.
Madam Paulina, a middle aged indigene of Otuabagi, historical community in Bayelsa State, suffers from a myriad of skin problems. She has lived with the challenge for so many years that it appears to have become normal for her to live with it.
Online resources said scratching an itchy skin could at times feel good as the mild pain it causes triggers the brain to release pleasure-inducing chemicals like serotonin, which temporarily blocks the itch signal and creates pleasurable sensation.
Madam Paulina often gets and savours this sort of pleasure, but the damage it does to her skin and mental wellbeing in the long run is indescribable.
“Every part of my body itches,” she said in an emotion laden tone as she started scratching her troubled skin again.
“At times, I experience serious coughing and vomiting. And this happens not to me alone but to many other people in the community,” she added.
But in spite of the discomfort she suffers, Madam Paulina’s financial handicap would not permit her to go to the hospital.
She said: “I use native medicine to treat myself because I don’t have money to go to the hospital.
“I pluck leaves from the bush to treat myself. We learnt this from our forebears. But the herbs partially work for me only partially.”
Aside from skin challenges, Paulina also suffers from another problem which, according to her, has defied every solution.
“My menstrual cycle ceased long ago. It stopped when I was above 30 years, and now I am above 50. I was lucky to have a child before it stopped,” she said.
Regretfully, she said she was not alone in this. “It is a common problem in this community,” she said.
Contrary to fears in some quarters that the afflictions suffered by Paulina and numerous other members of the community could be a result of ancestral curse or offence against certain deities by their forebears, a recent medical test carried out on 80 women in the community by Kabetkache Women’s Development and Resource Centre, a non- governmental organisation based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, through an independent researcher showed that the women, their soil and water have disturbing levels of hydrocarbon in them.
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Explaining the outcome of the test, a community leader, Chief Amangi Sodaguo Daniel, Aabu XI said: “As against the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 0.00002% polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in the blood system of humans, the result shows 15% of hydrocarbon in our system, and 100 per cent of the women had the same result.
“It implies that the foodstuffs we plant in this soil and the fruits we eat are also polluted. You can imagine the type of life we have been living for years.”
A native of the community, Esther Orubo, said the challenge stemmed from a leakage from an oil well head abandoned by the oil exploration giants, Shell, about 50 years ago.
“The terrain here is wet. When it rains, it brings out the oil from that well, which spreads everywhere in the environment.
“We drink the same water that is polluted and eat contaminated food produced by the polluted ground,” Orubo said.
The sight of oil floating on flowing water lends credence to the people’s assertions.
Like Madam Paulina, Esther Orubo said she had also been having a running battle with skin problems and other health challenges.
She said: “I have suffered from skin diseases numerous times. I’ve also suffered from respiratory illnesses. I have fertility issues and early menopause too.
“I am less than 40 years old, but my period has long stopped. I just gave birth to a child seven years ago,” she said.
She regretted that the community has been bedeviled by ‘weird’ illnesses over the years with no end in sight.
“We have recorded cases of cancer, liver diseases, respiratory illnesses, infertility, psychological issues, skin diseases, among others, which the community was never known for,” she added.
An aged member of the community, Madam Ikiombhar, says her skin problem is aggravated by painful boils.
Her words: “I have been having rashes and boils all over my body for years. I take tablets when the boils or rashes become too much.
“But it is not every time I have money to buy the tablets. I spend between N2,000 and N5,000 on drugs to clear the boils.
“They mix the tablets for me at chemists because our hospital is not functional. From here to Kolo where you have a functional hospital is very far.”
Wife of a frontline leader in the community, Mrs Amangi, said she had been having various health challenges, adding “I entered menopause when I was only 38 years old. Imagine entering menopause at that age.”
We’re having miscarriages, giving birth to deformed children
Aside from skin problems and early menopause, a worried member of the beleaguered community, Mitema George Suoye, said, “people have been dying in the community and women have been having miscarriages. Many children are born with deformities too.
“One of my children is also deformed. No human being, no matter how hard-hearted, will see our plight and not shed tears. We complained but nobody, including the state government, cares about us.”
Natives decry polluted water, oil spill challenges
The natives decried the menace of oil pollution and absence of potable water in their land.
The rivers from where they fetch water are unclean and unfit for consumption. Surfaces of the murky rivers are covered by rambling weeds. But that is what they have as their primary source of water supply.
“Our water is not good. The water is red. Oil has spoilt everything. There is no water for us to drink, so we have no alternative but to drink it as bad as it is,” Madam Ikiombhar said.
Prodded further, she said: “We defecate in the bush because we have no toilets. We pooh inside the river and still drink the water. Do we have an alternative? The answer is no!”
When fetching water from the river, she said, “you will use something to remove the thing (fecal matter and dirt) and take the water. We don’t boil the water. That is alien to us.”
Asked why she does not take sachet water, at least, she said “it is not everybody that has money to buy it.”
Also decrying the horrible water in the land, Mitema Suoye said: “We have been told after the tests not to drink water from the river behind my house again, but what are we going to do now?
“The river we have is the same river in which people pour refuse, defecate and bathe. We fetch drinking water from there early in the morning and only add alum to purify it.”
Corroborating Suoye’s remark, Mrs Amangi said: “At times, you see crude oil on the surface of the water. The place where we used to farm is also contaminated with oil.
“Unfortunately, there is nothing that is being done about it.”
NDDC’s poorly constructed water project compounds community’s woes
A solar water project constructed by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to ease the challenge of water supply in the community is said not to be serving the purpose.
“The solar panels were installed but are not functioning. I am not sure the community has ever used it to pump water since it was installed.
“The only alternative is to pump with a generator, but the price of fuel is huge, hence the periodic supply of water,” Chief Amangi said.
Giving a breakdown of what it costs to pump water with a generator, Chief Amangi said: “Filling the reservoir tank on the ground takes about 75 litres of fuel, and pumping the water up to the overhead tank for distribution takes about 120 litres.”
Checks around the community showed that a solar borehole sunk by Niger Delta Development Basin is clean.
Chief Amangi said there is no cost attached to fetching the water.
He said: “The research report from Kabetkache certified this particular bore hole about 80% clean and as you can see the iron content stain on the septic stand.
“Again due to the distance or location of the bore hole most people, especially those from both ends of the community could not access it and even those who can have to wait in long queues to get a bucket or gallon per day.”
On her part, Suoye noted that the NNDC water is better but “the maintenance remains a challenge. If they treat the water and supply it to us once, they won’t give us again until they deem it fit.
“We will then have to depend on water from the river to quench our thirst and meet other needs.”
Medical test result infuriates natives
The people have been infuriated since the medical test conducted on the women by Kabekatche revealed they have high levels of hydrocarbons in them.
“They found aromatic hydrocarbons in our system. I have been feeling very uncomfortable and angry since the result came out. It is very painful now that we know that these sufferings are as a result of the crude oil they said they were bringing to change our lives,” Orubo lamented.
Going down memory lane, she said: “According to our parents, they brought the news that crude oil discovery and exploration would transform the environment. Our parents welcomed the idea but all we have are afflictions.
“And now that we know that all our sufferings are as a result of this, it is even more frustrating because we don’t even really know what to do to come out of this whole mess.
“We have presented the result to public office holders. The local government chairmen and traditional rulers have copies of this report.”
Also speaking, Madam Ikiombhar said: “I did the test and they found that my blood is contaminated because of the crude oil that has polluted our environment.
“I don’t sleep at night, and that is the most serious problem I have now. Even when I take sleeping pills I would not sleep for more than an hour before I wake up.”
After the test, Mitema Suoye said: “I almost fainted when they showed us the result. They found plenty oil in our bodies.”
Why we carried out medical tests —Dr. Okon
Explaining why her organisation carried out medical tests on the women, founder and executive director of Kabetkache Women’s Development and Resource Centre, a women’s rights organisation, Dr. Emem Okon, said: “We have been carrying out campaigns on women and extractives over the years, and it was important to carry out a specific research on how women are being impacted by oil.
“The chosen location is the community that is host to the first oil well in Nigeria, Oloibiri Oil Well 1. We engaged medical personnel to lead the research.
“The 80 women whose blood samples were taken for analysis, the whole 80 of them, there were percentages of hydrocarbons found in their blood samples beyond the limits permissible by the World Health Organisation.
“Those were the critical findings that came out from that research.
“Water samples that were taken in the community, all of them had percentages of the hydrocarbon.”
She added: “The soil also has hydrocarbon content because the cassava, cocoyam, and other crops that samples were taken from all have those toxic elements.
“The research also revealed that oil wells 2 and oil well 4 are still leaking crude into the environment. That means that they were not properly corked.
“Shell moved out of that community since 1975, but the oil wells were not decommissioned.”
She observed that the oil wells were abandoned possibly because “they didn’t get crude again in commercial quantities. So, since 1975, there has been no operation.
“The wells were not decommissioned and the environment is still heavily polluted and people still live in the community.”
Worried by the outcome of the medical tests, Dr Emem said: “We are still carrying out advocacy engagements to ensure that something is done.
“Part of our demand is that beginning with those 80 women, there should be medical treatment.
“I don’t know what kind of treatment can be provided that can mitigate whatever impact the hydrocarbon in their blood could be causing.
“And then compensation should be paid to those women and to everybody in the community, but beginning with those 80 women that offered their blood samples to be taken.”
She added: “When we engaged NOSDRA in Bayelsa State the last time, they said we should write back to them to visit the community and carry out their own assessment to confirm the findings from the research.
“Part of what they wanted to confirm is that some existing oil wells in that community are still leaking crude into the environment and also to determine what interventions they can carry out to mitigate the problem. So that letter was written, but we are still waiting for them to take action.”
Continuing, she said: “Another suggestion that came from NOSDRA was that a peer review of the report should be conducted.
“But the report of that research corroborates the report of the Bayelsa Oil and Environment Commission, because part of the findings from the commission is that it also took blood samples of 1,600 community members in the state during the course of the assessment of the extent of pollution in Bayelsa, and the whole 1,600 were found to have hydrocarbon in their blood.”
Emem called on “the government and the corporation to take action and remediate the polluted environment in Bayelsa State and in Otuabagi in particular.
“We have gone ahead to hold a consultation meeting with NOSDRA on remediation. And we have actually invited them to come and train women on remediation.
“The findings from that research should not just remain in people’s bookshelves.
“Action should be taken to address the issues. We will not keep quiet.”
Shell declines comment
Efforts to get the reaction of Shell were unsuccessful.
The Communications Manager, Gladys Afam-Anadu neither responded to calls nor replied to a text message to her mobile line.
We’ll provide answer when it is ready- NDDC
Spokesperson of NDDC, Seledi Thompson Wakama said she would not be able to give a response when contacted last Wednesday.
“I can’t give you a time frame. I have to look for the information. I am even presently not in the office. I won’t even pick my call but I just said no you are a public person, pick every call that comes to you.”
When further asked when the information will be provided, she responded: “Am I in court or a tribunal? When I have the information I will send it across to you.”
She had yet to provide any response close to two weeks after she gave her words.
Otuabagi blessed but unfortunate
Otuabagi is naturally blessed, going by the volume of natural resources it is endowed with. Incidentally, it bears the proverbial tag of the goose that lays the golden eggs but never benefits from it.
The community does not readily come to mind as Oloibiri, the legendary oil community in the same council area. However, out of the 21 oil wells widely known as “Oloibiri oilfield,” drilled by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), through which Nigeria exported its first crude, 18 were located in Otuabagi, including the famous Oil Well 1 bored at a depth of 12,008 ft.
Explaining why the first oil discovery is often said to be in Oloibiri, Chief Amangi said: “It is named Oloibiri oil field because Oloibiri was then the headquarters of Ogbia Kingdom. And the only way Shell could locate the oil well was to name it after the Oloibiri where we had the only functional postal agency.
“Unfortunately, the benefit Otuabagi was supposed to get was siphoned to Oloibri town. Scholarships were given to Oloibiri town, Otabagi was never remembered. We are neglected.”
Prior to the period Otuabagi became heavily polluted, Mitema Suoye said, the community teemed with life.
She said: “When I was growing up in the community, I lived with my grandmother, and we didn’t lack for anything. We were eating to our satisfaction. Even fish was in abundance in the river. Inside the forest, we had very big lobsters.
“But all that is no more available. We have no fish again in the river because of oil exploration. Oil flows on our river, and even on the land. If you plant something, it doesn’t do well again.
“Before cassava gets to six months on the farm, it will rotten.”