Hoodlums set fire to Bayelsa oil spill site

Hoodlums have set ablaze an impacted oil spill site at Oruma/Yiba-Ama community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

It was learnt the oil spill occurred along Shell Petroleum Development Company’s Kolo Creek, Rumuekpe trunk line on June 2, 2015, at Odau community, Abua/Odua Local Government Area, Rivers State, and spread to Oruma/Yiba-Ama.

Shell was said to have abandoned the Ogbia axis of the spill site and failed to clean up the polluted environment.

The report of the Joint Investigation Visit on the spill, which was concluded on June 25, 2015, showed the spill was caused by a third-party interference that spilled 306 barrels of crude oil.

It was alleged that Shell did nothing about the spill, which spread to Oruma/Yiba-Ama community.

The report said the fire left in its wake “a roasted, fried and charred environment”.

The Chairman, Oruma/Yiba-Ama Community Development Committee, Igbogikeme Elliot, said on Saturday the spill was made worse by the inferno and the oil company’s refusal to embark on recovery exercise.

He said, “It is sad the crude oil spread from Odau to destroy our swamp, ponds, farms and farmlands. Some people depend on those ponds to take care of the educational needs of their children besides other family needs.

“But, while Shell failed to come and carry out recovery and clean-up of the spilled crude oil in our environment, the matter has been made even worse when some criminals put fire to the spill site and the whole environment just went up in flames.

“Economically, this is a great loss to our people; so much has been destroyed in terms of flora and fauna. So, we are really losing from Shell. We urge government to put in more efforts to ensure compliance with standards.”

Eliot said the community was crying out to the Bayelsa State Government, Federal Government and Shell to ensure that the environment was properly remediated.

Efforts made to speak to Shell spokesman, Mr. Joseph Obari, was unsuccessful as his mobile phone could not connect.

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