The Biseni Community and an environmental advocacy group, the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), have raised the alarm over a massive oil spill that has flooded a lake in the Biseni axis of Yenagoa Local Government Area in Bayelsa State.
A field report by Alagoa Morris, a renowned environmentalist and Deputy Executive Director of EDEN, following a site visit on February 14 and made available to BusinessDay stated that the oil spill had flooded the Fazino Lake and destroyed a lot of aquatic life.
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and Nigeria Agip Oil Company operated the oil assets in the area for decades before their divestment to Renaissance Africa Energy Company and Oando PLC, respectively.
He noted in his report that, “In terms of the negative impacts of the oil industry operations; Biseni has had much experience from oil spillages. And due to the topography of the environment most of the spill incidents spread to impact natural bodies of water such as lakes, brooks and fish ponds; besides farmlands.
“Depending largely on the environment for their means of livelihood, incidents such as crude oil spills are a major source of concern to the people. Apart from related health implications; herein lies the significance of any oil spillage in the environment.”
He disclosed that both photographs and short video clips of the oil spill site were geo-stamped to authenticate the report.
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In their accounts, indigenes of the area including Kimemiah Benjamin, Aye Preye and Agah Lucky, who are the chairman, secretary and deputy clerk of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) respectively, in Biseni urged the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency and Federal Ministry of Environment to come to their aid.
Kimemiah Benjamin lamented: “As you can see, it is very clear. I am here in the Fazino environment. Our people normally feed from this lake. But you can see it is covered by the black gold.
“This is environmental degradation, caused by this oil spillage; from the oil company who cannot check and maintain their facilities adequately. And look at what this spillage has caused; pain to the Biseni people. If you go close you will observe dead creatures; to show you the level of impact on the environment.
“I am calling on NOSDRA, Ministry of Environment at state and federal levels to come to our aid and caution, call to order these oil companies; to come and do the needful.
“Let them come and clean up this place and also pay adequate compensation needed so that the people of Biseni will have life back the way they use to”.
The EDEN report indicated that there are other recent oil spill impacted sites in the area from facilities owned and operated by Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited.
The report said “One such site was sighted around the steel bridge while approaching the Adibawa North/East Well 1; oozing with the familiar pungent smell of crude oil; even though it appears some haphazard job has been done there not long ago.”
EDEN urged relevant government agencies to remind oil companies to promptly cleanup oil spills and remediation as well as compensation for the victims, stressing the oil industry should not be about only profits.
“The oil industry in Nigeria is old enough to know that the business cannot just be about profits; there is the responsibility and liability angle too”, the report said.
EDEN called on Oando to immediately cleanup the impacted site including the lake that “was observed to be covered with crude oil” and repair the ruptured spot from where the crude oil is spewing.
Alagoa observed that the impacted area showed withered shrubs and wipedout undergrowth including dead creatures like snails and millipedes.
According to him, there were no dead fishes floating in the lake, probably due to the length of time and that “it is important that regulatory agencies of government be reminded that; it is not enough to accompany oil industry operators to oil spill impacted sites for JIV alone; more important is the follow-ups; to ensure that the operators do what is required of them promptly”.
