Disaster: Oil Spill Causes Panic Amidst Environmental, Livelihoods Concerns

There is palpable tension in some communities in Andoni local government area of Rivers State following an oil spill that have spread all over their shoreline.

Sources close to the affected community told Forefront News that the spill which is suspected to be from an SPDC facility in Bonny Island which has spread to Oyorokoto/Agbama/Imo River and thereby impacting communities along the stretch of the river started on December 13, 2024.

The communities have therefore cried out over the oil spill that suggests to have emanated from a pipeline rupture at a Shell loading terminal in Bonny.
It was further gathered that the spill is huge as its impact is already felt over 40km from the incident site, just as there are indications that due to wave action, the spill will most likely spread to other communities along that coastline.

There was similar spill that occurred in Shell’s Trans Niger Pipeline line III on May 11, 2024, in the Asarama community, Andoni local government area of Rivers State that polluted and contaminated the environment as well as fishing gear and destroyed their means of livelihood.

This was aptly captured by an AIT news report of May 23, 2024.
Following the devastating effect of the spill in the affected areas along the Oyorokoto/Agbama/Imo River, concerned stakeholders, including representatives from Andoni Host and Impacted Communities Bureau, the National Youth Council of Nigeria Andoni, amongst others, have lamented their experience of the magnitude of the spill and the immediate impacts they witnessed.
They stressed that the oil spill has damaged fishing nets, boats, and other equipment thereby rendering them unusable, adding that the oil spill has contaminated the waterways and also made it impossible for fishermen to engage in their daily livelihood.

This was as it was gathered that the oil spill has caused significant environmental damage, in addition to the destruction of mangroves, fish habitats, and other marine life.
The concerned stakeholders have therefore called on the polluting company to as a matter of concern and urgency, quickly contain the spill to avoid further destruction and carry out cleanup and remediation as well as provide adequate compensation to the impacted community people.
Speaking on the development, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Erath Foundation (HOMEF), stressed that the frequent spills are the harsh realities of community folks in the Niger Delta, adding that in many cases, nothing is done as the communities are left to suffer.

In the words of Bassey; “Most of the pipelines that crisscross the Niger Delta are as old as when commercial export of crude oil started in Nigeria and a lot of these spills are coming from these old pipelines and in some other cases, equipment failure.
“We call on all relevant agencies to beam their search light on these oil companies to ensure that justice is served,” he stressed.