Ijaw communities in Bayelsa State at the weekend protested the Appeal Court’s ruling on the $1.5 billion compensation suit against Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria over oil spillage in their communities.
The two chambers of the National Assembly had ordered Shell to pay the $1.5 billion compensation to the 145 Ijaw communities in Bayelsa State for the hazards the company caused them.
But Shell disagreed with the National Assembly’s order.
The Ijaw communities filed a suit against the company at a Federal High Court and obtained what they called an unfavorable judgment.
The court upheld the National Assembly’s proclamation on the matter.
Not satisfied, Shell approached the Appeal Court, sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The court struck out the case on the ground that the National Assembly was not competent to award monetary penalties.
Spokesman of the affected Ijaw communities, Chief Pere Ajuwa, disagreed with the ruling.
He said the ruling did not take into cognisance the various evidence the communities’ lawyer presented.
Ajuwa, a former presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the 2007 general elections, told reporters in Abuja that the ruling was a miscarriage of justice.
The spokesman noted that there was overwhelming evidence of deaths, oil spillages and environmental pollution in the communities because of Shell’s exploration activities.
He said the communities would petition the National Judicial Council (NJC) to investigate the matter.
Ajuwa said: “We have been in a battle with Shell Development Petroleum Company of Nigeria. When the traditional rulers’ council of Bayelsa State invited me to handle the case, I gave them my conditions, which included non-violence from any Ijaw group.
“In 2003, a commission of enquiry was called at the National Assembly and there has not been any case of violence against Shell since that period till now.
“But in this process, we have been undermined, even by certain agents of government and Shell. The commission of enquiry specified that 1,247 indigenes of Bayelsa State died because of Shell’s oil pollution. There was an unmitigated outbreak of cholera and other water-borne diseases. This figure was confirmed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
“I have never seen a place where blood is shed, yet the law enforcement agencies and, even the Judiciary, would shut their eye to the people’s grievances. The Ijaw have kept faith with the non-violence agreement they reached with me.
“The National Assembly proclaimed that Shell was guilty of environmental degradation, which led to the death of several people. Shell was asked to pay the 145 Ijaw communities in Bayelsa State $1.5 billion. But Shell went through the courts and said the National Assembly could not give a legislative judgment or award such an amount of money to the Ijaw nation.”
Over 2,000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed by oil spill that occurred at Umoghunnokhua in Orhionmwon local government area of Edo State.
A member of the community, Mike Eghaghe, stated this when he led the state Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Barr. Isimeme Irogbe, to inspect the site of the spillage.
Eghaghe said the spill has affected the fortunes of farmers in the community.
The Commissioner on his part assured the people that adequate compensation would be paid for the damage caused by the oil spill to their community.
Over 18 months after oil spills from the facilities of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and fire outbreak ravaged Ikara in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, the people of the Itsekiri community are still waiting for succour, writes SHOLA O’NEIL
Over 18 months after several crude oil spills from the facilities of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and fire outbreak ravaged Ikara, Ajatiton and Kolokolo communities in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, the people of Ikara, an Itsekiri community, are still waiting for the management of the national oil firm and the National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency (NOSDRA) to act on the spill.
It was learnt that the management of NPDC, a subsidiary of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is resolute that it would neither negotiate with nor pay compensation to the communities, due to an extant policy of not paying for spills caused by “3rd Party Interference”.
•Area impacted by spills in 2014
The people of Ikara, one of the affected communities told Niger Delta Report that the spills, which occurred from late 2013 through January and February of 2014, wreaked untold havoc on the environment and ecology of their land. They said resulting fire from the spills later ravaged the forests, fish ponds and farmlands around the area, leaving in its wake gale of destruction, hunger and poverty.
It was learnt that a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) carried out by NOSDRA and other stakeholders on January 6, 2014, over one month after the first incident, recommended the immediate repair of the pipeline, environmental assessment, clean up and post-clean-up investigation of the impacted areas.
Our findings, collaborated by documents from NOSDRA and other agencies, revealed that the repair of the damaged pipeline was not properly done. One of the independent valuers said, “It was the clamps placed to contain the initial damage that ruptured and led to at least two other spills in the proceeding months.”
Just one month after, on February 18, 2014, there was another report of spillage from the NPDC’s Oziengbe/Oredo 6″ Export pipeline at Ikara swamps. Equipment failure and failed clamp was indicated as the cause of the spill.
The JIV which led to the revelation was carried out on March 13, nearly one month after, contrary to the NOSDRA regulation, which recommended that such investigation should be done within 72 hours (three days) after the spill is reported.
The investigation nonetheless identified oil stains on vegetation, fishing nets, dead floating fishes and withering vegetation as the nature of impact of the spill. Properties affected were listed as crops, fish farm and ponds and fishing nets, among others.
The document signed on behalf of the agency by Adanu Charles and I A Jonathan, remarked that the spill was caused by a previously clamped section of the pipeline, which was leaking and recommended that immediate repair of the facilities be effected. “NPDC should intensify surveillance.”
Two weeks after the visit, a fire outbreak occurred on 27/03/14 at the same facility and around the same area. The impacted areas were delineated as within and outside the company’s ROW (Right of Way). A JIV, three days later remarked that “The cause of the fire incident is not known”. The report though conceded that “crude oil was all over the area before the incident, which was not cleaned-up.”
NPDC was asked to “Commence immediate cleanup and remediation of the impacted area”, by NOSDRA’s Olawumi Oladapo, who led the team along with NPDC and community representatives.
Just a month later, on 23/04/14, there was yet another spill from a “failed clamp” on the 6″ pipeline. The remark on the JIV report, which was obtained by NDR read: “As at the time of visit, the crude oil was seeping out of the failed clamp.”
Although it noted that the spill was still within the confines of the firm’s ROW, the JIV report advised that “NPDC should respond to the spill immediately to prevent the oil from moving out of the ROW”. It also urged the company to do “immediate clean-up of the impacted area”.
One of the community leaders, Chief John Eyejamuro, told our reporter in a telephone chat that the company’s perceived “irresponsibility has led to suffering and hardship in the community”. He accused the company of neglecting the impacted community and shirking its responsibilities to them.
But NPDC source said the community members were responsible for the spill through sabotage of the company’s facilities because they wanted to be compensated.
An environmental consulting and engineering services firm engaged by the communities, Fredorosa Casolini Limited, petitioned the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Abuja, urging for urgent intervention of the House to save the people of Ikara and other impacted areas.
The petition, dated 9th May, 2014 was signed by Eyimofe Brown-Dibofun. It decried “The consequences of the unwholesome environmental practices by the NPDC”, which he said resulted in “continuous pollution of surface and underground water which is the source of drinking water for the people; the unending pollution and degradation of rivers and creeks, mangrove and vegetation leading to a depletion of its flora and fauna.
The consultant also lamented the non-completion of Post-Spill Impact Assessment (PSIA), which usually ends in the damage assessment of resources and properties. “We are to mention that we are also disturbed that the mandatory PSIA, which must come before cleanup and remediation has not been done and yet the polluter (NPDC) is eager to clean-up the polluted sites and the waterways in order to obliterate scientific and visual evidence required for this matter.”
The petition demanded that NPDC proceed to Ikara and other communities with stakeholders for the PSIA and Post-fire Impact Assessment of forest and resources as well as the cleanup and remediation work in the impacted area.
“NPDC must supply adequate relief materials (foodstuffs, water and medication) to be determined by NOSDRA to assuage the sufferings of the people occas0ioned by the oil spill.”
Several months after the 2013 spill, NPDC engaged the service of Mytec Links International Limited for the cleanup, remediation and restoration of the impacted areas. The company mobilized to sight in August 2014.
Apparently unimpressed with the processes leading to the planned cleanup, FREDOROSA, on December 30, 2014, wrote to NOSDRA’s Director General, Sir Peter Idabor, reminding the agency of the legal imperative to ensure the PSIA and Post Impact Assessment for Ikara” are done.
The letter stated that “It is a legal imperative that NOSDRA, as an Agency of the Federal Ministry of Environment, must ensure the assessments.” A further reminder was sent to the agency on January 22, 2015.
The letters, our findings revealed, was the culmination of distrust between Ikara leaders, NOSDRA and NPDC. Before the petition to the NASS, the communities had also raised concern over purported attempted by the NPDC to “destroy JIV evidence”. They claimed that the oil firm tried to mutilate the JIV forms signed by the stakeholders “with a view to destroy evidence against them on their unwholesome environmental practices.”
Speaking with our reporter on Monday, Brown-Dibofun insisted that the ploy to destroy the evidence of the JIV was hatched in connivance with some official of NOSDRA who went for the JIV. “When we noticed this, we protested to the then Zonal Director in Warri, Mr Bunmi Akindele, who later queried some of the officials deployed for the JIV.”
The FREDOROSA boss’ claim could not be independently confirmed because Akindele was no longer the Zonal Director at the agency’s Warri office at the time of this report. The result of the ‘query’ was also unknown.
Nevertheless, Eyimofe-Brown insisted that the NPDC spill management process was not transparent. He said, “Over 80percent of spills are wrongly listed by the company as 3rd party intervention in order to escaped liability.
“It is not only in the cause that they plan pranks; they also under report the quantity of crude oil spill. There was a case when the company said just 40 barrels of crude was spilled but when it awarded the contract for the recovery, the contractor was asked to recovered hundreds of barrels; where did the extra came from?”
Our problem with Ikara, others – Npdc
Our reporter’s effort to reach the Managing Director of the NPDC, Mr. Anthony Ugonna Muoneke and other staff competent to speak for the company was abortive.
However, a very reliable and high ranking officer of NPDC, who spoke on condition that his name would not be mention in this report, explained the company’s position on oil spills and other issues in the area. The source said some inhabitants of the areas were notorious for attacks on oil installations, stressing that it got so bad that the company reached out to prominent leaders in Itsekiri nation to help curb the attack on NPDC’s pipelines.
“When we notice incessant cases of vandalisation of our pipelines in the area – sometimes they put fire on the pipeline – we became concerned. We approached one Chief Johnson and asked him to take up a contract to guard our pipeline. Immediately they started writing petition that they want the contract broken into pieces. We said not because we want to be able to hold somebody responsible. We were sure that he could do it and he has helped us arrest a lot of suspect. “
Speaking on the process of cleanup and remediation of the spill site, the source debunked allegation that a JIV report was tampered, stressing that it was a desperate ploy to malign the company. It noted that the community leaders knew the channel of dealing with the issues .
“The truth is that in any oil spill, we invite DPR (Department of Petroleum Resources), NOSDRA, community for a JIV and they look at to find out if its equipment failure or vandalism. It is DPR that issue report about the JIV it is the report of DPR that determines what happens. If we have done JIV and DPR decides its sabotage, then that is what it is. The DPR is an independent government organ saddled with the responsibility.
“The problem of the community is that they are not willing to accept the report of DPR. Communities are using the press to blackmail and forcing us to do what is not right. They should have reported us to the Ministry of Environment and the NOSDRA; why go to the press? The Ministry of Environment asks questions when there is disagreement and we respond with documents.
“The law is that if it is vandalism which we have been experiencing, no relief materials, no compensation and nothing will be provided. If after vandalizing our equipment, making us lose production, shutdown and spend money on repair they still expect us to give them relief material?”
Aggrieved indigenes of coastal communities in the Niger Delta region on Tuesday blocked the Mbiama axis of the East-West Road to protest $16bn compensation for oil spill allegedly owed them by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (now Exxon Mobil).
The angry victims of the spill that occurred 16 years ago between January 12 and 17, 1998, took over the road at about 9am.
The placard-carrying protesters caused heavy traffic gridlock on the busy road that links all the states in the South-South.
Drivers and travelers were held hostage for over three hours by the protesters who called for the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Some of the placards read: “Chief James Jephta we want our money”, “Exxon Mobil, you are playing games with us”, “Niger Delta people want 1998 oil spill compensation”, “Barrister Wills, Niger Delta youths want their money”.
The demonstration which was largely peaceful was coordinated by clan heads of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Ijaw National Congress (INC), Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationalities (MOSEND) and the Ijaw Survival Movement of the Niger Delta (ISMOND).
Elderly men, women, youths and chiefs from various communities of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Rivers states participated in the protest.
In a statement signed by leaders of the protesting communities and groups, the victims lamented that coastal communities in Lagos State which suffered the same 1998 spill had since received their compensation.
Reading the statement on behalf of the victims, Mr. Jonathan Robert, said despite being the main victims of the spill, they had been left to languish in pains and penury twelve years after the incident.
He said in pursuit of their compensation, the affected various communities instituted various cases in different Federal High Courts against the oil company.
He, however, said after about eight years of litigation, the communities opted for an out-of-court settlement at the instance of Exxon Mobil.
He said the victims of the spill later employed the services of Octopus Clan Nigeria Limited owned by Mr. James Jephta as their principal attorneys to handle matters of the compensation on their behalf.
He said after waiting in vain for over six years to get the compensation promised them by the company, they decided to confront the company to know the reason for the delay.
Worried by environmental degradation occasioned by frequent oil spillages, the people of Ibeno Local Government Area, one of the major oil-bearing communities in Akwa Ibom State, have lamented over what they described as environmental hazards caused by oil exploration activities by ExxonMobil.
Ibeno, host community to the American oil-giant for decades, has been groaning over constant oil spills into their rivers, leading to destruction of aquatic lives, farmlands and fishing business.
Speaking to reporters on the matter in his domain in Ibeno, the paramount ruler, Owong Effiong Achianga, lamented that oil exploration activities of Mobil has brought untold hardship on his people and urged management of the company to live up to their expectations by cushioning the effects of oil exploration activities in the area.
The royal father, who disclosed that Mobil had been defaulting in paying correct compensations accruable to the area over oil spills and environmental degradation, explained that “Mobil should be paying at least $100million yearly” to tackle the problem efficiently.
Besides, Achianga urged the company to boost its social responsibility profile by creating jobs and other income generating opportunities to the local residents of Ibeno, noting that such gesture would go a long way towards making them have a sense of belonging in the company.
On the activities of sea pirates and other forms of maritime criminals operating on the shores of Ibeno and its environs, the anxious monarch lamented the ordeals faced by his people, adding that their means of livelihood including fishing and marine transports were under serious threat.
He, therefore, appealed to the state and federal governments to step into the matter with a view to making the sea safe for maritime workers and oil exploration activities.
The Federal Government is determined to combat marine pollution caused by oil spillage across the country.
The Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam, has said while receiving a letter of approval for Nigeria to host the Regional Coordinating Centre to Combat Marine Pollution in West, Central and South Africa.
The letter, according to a statement from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), was handed over to the minister by the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Coordinator on Abidjan Convention, Mr. Abou Bamba, in Abuja.
Mallam said the hosting of the centre was an advantage to Nigeria, adding that it would build more capacity and technical competence to tackle marine pollution in Nigeria and beyond.
“The regional headquarters is an advantage to us and this shows that if we did not have the technology and the capability to handle it, they wouldn’t have come to us.”
She assured UNEP coordinator that the government would provide an office for the centre to begin operation in six months.
Bamba, who is also the Executive Secretary of the Abidjan Convention, said the hosting of the headquarters was another step in tackling marine pollution.
According to him, this will also speed up the clean-up of Ogoniland.
He said the Abidjan Convention would provide adequate logistics to make the centre succeed.
Bamba said the UNEP and the Federal Government would meet to discuss the memorandum of understanding that would be signed by the government and the Abidjan Convention for the establishment of the centre.
Bamba said: “The Abidjan Convention will provide adequate office space, staff, materials and equipment, and the convention would cover the initial and recurring operational costs needed for the centre.
“In the meantime, I will be pleased to visit the installations, which will host the centre and report to the UNEP on the major findings and observations. We estimate that in six months, the centre should be operational and start its first assessment activities.
“Nigeria is not by its own, the Abidjan Convention and UNEP will support as much as they can to make this unique experience a success.”
He said with the new status, Nigeria would be in charge of the coordination of combating trans-boundary marine pollution from Mauritania to South Africa.
The Director-General, NOSDRA, Peter Idabor, said the hosting of the centre would enhance the country’s capability to tackle marine pollution.
National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has said environmental pollution arising from crude oil spills in Bayelsa State could only be compared to similar disaster in Ogoni, Rivers State.
A team of NOSDRA delegates led by the agency’s Director-General, Peter Idabo, were in the state of President Goodluck Jonathan recently to assess spill sites in various communities.
Though the Federal Government has yet to implement the report of the United Nations Environmental Protection (UNEP) on Ogoni, there were indications that the government would consider Bayelsa as a special case.
Idabo and his team first visited Well 12 operated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) near Imiringi in Ogbia Local Government Area.
“Pollution in Bayelsa is very rife, it is like what is happening in Ogoniland,” he said. He, however, observed that Well 12, where a truck discharged pollutants last year, had been cleaned.
He said the visit of spill sites in the state was part of activities lined up by the agency in its tour of oil-producing states. He said the agency would consult and cooperate with the Governor Seriake Dickson to tackle problems of oil spills in the country.
As part of the activities, he said the agency would hold town hall meetings with stakeholders on oil spill. He noted that the meeting would help the agency to identify other spill sites and their impact on the people.
The state has witnessed many cases of crude oil spill in the Niger Delta region, most of which were the handiwork of saboteurs.
The NOSDRA team reportedly visit Ikarama and Biseni communities in Yenagoa Local Government Area during its two-day tour of the state.
Ikarama community has been described as one community that has experienced more oil spills than any other oil producing community in the Niger Delta region.
The team which was later joined by the Chairman of NOSDRA, Major Lancelot Anyanya (rtd), paid a courtesy visit to Governor Seriake Dickson.
Dickson called for a law with severe punishment against continual abuse of Niger Delta environment through oil exploration and exploitation. Describing pollution of the region as environmental terrorism, the governor said stringent environmental laws should be promulgated by a relevant legislative organ to protect and preserve the environment from such terrorism.
He said oil companies were fond of abandoning crude oil spill sites without properly cleaning them. He said such sites had ravaged environment in the region citing Bayelsa State as the worst hit.
He emphasised the need for international oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region to protect the environment. He said an environmental summit would be organised by his administration soon to discuss ways of mitigating the effects of oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the region.
He expressed his administration’s commitment to collaborate with NOSDRA to facilitate the speedy passage of the amended Act of the agency, which had undergone its first and second readings at the National Assembly.
The governor explained that, health hazards arising from such environmental pollution were the reasons behind the establishment of the toxicology institute.
He granted the request of NOSDRA for a functional office in the state and called on the agency to site its headquaters in Bayelsa. He described the state as the host to the bulk of oil and gas operations in the region.
As part of efforts to address environmental problems, Dickson proposed that the Federal Government should build receptacles to evacuate crude oil recovered from illegal refineries.
Dickson while addressing members of NOSDRA said: “I have said it before that what has been going on in Bayelsa State, the Niger Delta and in all oil-producing areas concerning the levity with which oil companies treat the issues of the environment and the maintenance of environmental and health standards.
“When you look at all of these and particularly listening to your chilly statistics, which I believe is only a tip of the iceberg, one is really left with no other conclusion than that, we are actually facing a case of environmental terrorism.
“What has been going on in the Niger Delta since the discovery of oil; a situation where more than one spill takes place in Bayelsa every day, going by what your statistics is telling us and all these sites are treated with reckless abandon and the environment is left to fend for itself, the livelihood and in fact the lives of the people and the ecosystem are not attended to. What then is more of terrorist action than this?”
He also asked the government to design mechanisms for effective and proper remediation of impacted areas.
“This is an opportunity again for us to remind ourselves that we all have a duty to work together as government to government and it is also an opportunity for us to call on all stakeholders especially the oil companies, regulatory agencies and everybody to be alive to the need to protect our environment”, he said.
In his remarks, Chairman of NOSDRA, Major Lancelot Anyanya (rtd), explained that the visit was aimed at strengthening the existing collaboration between government and the agency on efforts at curbing oil spills and its attendant effects.
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has decried the increasing rate of oil spillage in the Niger Delta.
The agency’s Board Chairman, Maj. Lancelot Ayanya (rtd), said the spill was getting worse by the day, adding that there is the need for the board to visit affected communities to provide a lasting solution.
He said every individual, including expatriates of oil companies, could be a victim of the spill as a result of contaminated food produce such as sea foods.
Ayanya said: “Visiting the region is inevitable. I do not see how we can sit in Abuja and coordinate things. Luckily, the agency has offices in some states and oil producing states. I imagine that we will have the opportunity to see some of the activities.
“Luckily, some of us happened to come from these villages, so we don’t need to stress our imagination too much. Any time we go home for burial or whatever ceremony, we see it and it’s getting worse by the day so we understand the pains.
“But for the benefit of those who might not have the first hand information to enrich our perspective, the community will bring to our assignment. I do not see how we can sit in Abuja and do our work, which is one of the things we discussed in our interactions with other members of the board.
“We have to go where these challenges are most prevalent and we need to see for ourselves and do our work from another perspective.”
Ayanya, who spoke on-behalf of the inaugurated boards, called for supports from all segments of the society to support the ministry to achieve its mandate.
Earlier, Supervising Minister of Environment, Architect Darius Ishaku said inputs from the board were imperative for the Federal Government to achieve its transformation agenda.
He said the Federal Government could not solely manage programmes aimed at achieving a sustainable environment in the country.
“We must all bear in mind that the success of other sectors of the economy is largely predicated on safe environment. This is why the role of all stakeholders and other sectors is crucial,” Ishaku said.
He reminded the boards that their activities should be coordinated in line with public service rules, financial regulations among other extant rules, which established the agencies.
Other chairmen of the boards include: Alhaji Sanusi Magodo (National Park Service); Alhaji Suleiman Galadima (Forest Research Institute of Nigeria) and Mr. Ishiaku Mshelia (National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency).
The Shell Petroleum Development Company on Friday attributed the fresh oil spill in the Taylor Creek in Yenagoa to sabotage.
The company’s spokesman, Precious Okolobo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Yenogoa that the fresh spill was caused by a third party interference.
“Unknown persons tampered with a previously clamped flow line, resulting in a fresh oil spill.
“Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) has been planned for today (May 24) and after which we will commence remedial actions,” Okolobo said.
The Corporate Media Relations Manager of Shell, Mr. Tony Okenedo, said: “Sadly, this spill adds to a rising trend in the area.
“We recorded four different spills on our flow lines in the area from April 9 to April 26, all caused by sabotage and theft as attested to by the different JIV reports.
“Cleanup of residual impacted area has been planned.
“SPDC is very concerned about these sabotage spills because of the negative impact on the people and the environment, ” Okenedo said.
NAN reports that the latest oil spill, which occurred on May 6, has impacted on JK4, Betterland, Ikarama and Kalaba communities.
The Ogun State Government and the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) will start assessment of level of environmental damage caused by oil spills in Arepo, a community in the state. This stemmed from persistent activities of vandals in the area.
HYPREP is an agency of the government established last year to handle restoration of degraded environment arising from oil spillage and activities of oil exploration and production companies.
Arepo has lately become notorious as a haven for petroleum products thieves and pipeline vandals, recording three major incidents in less than two months.
A delegation from the HYPREP led by its National Coordinator, Mrs. Joy Nunieh-Okunnu, visited Arepo following an invitation from the Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Prince Lanre Tejuosho, to start an assessment of the concerns of oil spillage and air pollution in the area.
The commissioner confirmed that the state government would provide HYPREP with offices from where its operations could commence.
During the visit, concerns were raised about the ease with which vandals had access to oil pipelines and the impact their activities were having in the community. A resident of the Journalists’ Estate in Arepo, Mr Gbayode Somuyiwa, and other officials and colleagues in the estate relived their experiences.
Somuyiwa relayed his experience. He said: “On the first night I experienced this, it was as if my fuel tank was left open overnight and by the morning the smell was gone … we were just inhaling impure air and it has gone on unabated.”
He expressed his concern about the surrounding villages where as a result of the explosion from vandalised pipes, corpses had been left in the water and this combined with oil spillage had polluted the water. “Some people have diarrhoea and they are not aware of the causes. Those who used to fish can’t fish,” he said. He also pointed out that some Ijaw communities who are active fishermen in the area have disappeared, adding that the oil spillage had destroyed the environment.
Nunieh-Okunnu said the visit of HYPREP, which was on the invitation of the Ogun State Government, was to carry out an environmental assessment of the oil spillage. She said that for the first time in the over 50 years history of oil exploration in Nigeria, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has set up a specialist unit within the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to ensure that section 8 and 9 of the Petroleum Act was implemented. She noted that the minister was particularly interested in what was happening in Arepo.
She confirmed that once the office space was available, HYPREP would conduct an air analysis and perform tests on the water in collaboration with the state government. She urged stakeholders to carry out continuous campaign against crude oil theft “as people can’t keep stealing whilst we (HYPREP) keep cleaning.”
She said the boys involved in ‘put fire’ (artisanal refining) activities must understand the impact of crude oil theft on their health and the environment. She also expressed concern about the exchange of crude oil for drugs and arms.
On the question of compensation, Mrs Nunieh-Okunnu clarified that her agency was liable for addressing issues of environmental restoration and exploring alternative livelihoods through HYPREP’s socio-economic unit programme in impacted communities.
Tejuosho said the state government will pursue compensation with the Federal Government where there have been negative effects of oil spillage in the community. He reassured the community that all areas that needed compensation will be pursued.
The HYPREP delegation also went on to the Diamond Estate in Lagos State, where concerns about oil spillage and pollution had been reported. In a meeting with the President of the Estate, Mr Kolapo Abiodun, Nunieh-Okunnu listened to concerns of the community about pollution of the water around the houses in Phase Two of the estate. This, Kolapo said, raised concerns about health. He felt that effective remediation had not been put in place.
He assured him that HYPREP would carry out an assessment and make necessary recommendations to address the issue at Arepo.
