The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) has raised concerns over ongoing environmental pollution and gas bubbling issues in Bille Kingdom, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Raising the alarm the organisation Executive Director, Dr. Fyneface Fyneface, revealed a new disturbing development in the affected community, noting that water fetched from a source where gas bubbles from the ground into a plastic container turns black within minutes.
“YEAC-Nigeria is not surprised but deeply concerned about the recent surge in oil and gas spillages and leakages in the Niger Delta, especially the ongoing leakage reported in Bille Kingdom.
“”As seen, ongoing, and documented, Bille Kingdom has been experiencing gas leakages from thousands of holes bubbling from the ground, on water, creeks in and around the Kingdom for some months now and still counting.
“This is because we have said it times without number that oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta are going to have the worst of oil pollution regimes under the Indigenous Oil Companies (IOCs) after divestments compared to the eras of Multinational Oil Companies (MOCs), not only because the divested facilities are obsolete, decaying, and prone to leakages but also because it’s going to be an era of exploitation without redress and justice in Nigerian courts since they can’t drag the IOCs to foreign courts for justice like they were doing with the MOCs, he said.
Fyneface explained that despite several letters written by the leadership of Bille Kingdom and submitted to relevant authorities, including the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and the Ministry of Environment, and shared with YEAC-Nigeria for advocacy support, no concrete steps have been taken to address the issue.
“This negligence has placed the community on a keg of gunpowder, threatening lives and properties, as any little mistake in handling inflammable materials in and around the Kingdom will set the entire area on avoidable fire,” he said.
He described the phenomenon as alarming and difficult to explain, adding that they await outcomes of investigation.
“This situation is difficult. We are still waiting for the report from authorities who collected samples from the community, and we demand urgent action to address these issues.
“The group reiterates its call on NNPCL, NOSDRA, the Federal Ministry of Environment, and the Rivers State Government to immediately intervene, stop the gas bubbling, conduct comprehensive environmental and health audits, and protect the people of Bille Kingdom from this unfolding disaster.
