Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has confirmed the October 3 oil spill from its facilities at Peremabiri community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
The company’s spokesperson, Michael Adande, confirmed on Friday that a Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) to the incident site would soon be undertaken to unravel the cause and volume of oil discharged at the facilities
JIV is a statutory probe comprising representatives of the operator, host community and regulatory agencies that generates a report to show the cause, extent of pollution after every spill is reported.
Adande stated: “A government-led Joint Investigation Team, including operator and community representatives, is currently on a Joint Investigation Visit to the site of the incident to determine the cause and the impact of the incident.”
As expected, people in Peremabiri have urged the government to prevail on SPDC to immediately clean up exercise at the oil spill site.
Commenting on the incident, Programme Manager, Environmental Right Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Alagoa Morris, lamented that the oil leak had polluted the ecosystem and adversely affected the predominantly farming and fishing settlements along the banks of River Nun.
Morris, who is also the Technical Adviser to the Bayelsa Governor on Environment, commended the peaceful disposition of the people in the affected community to the incident and tasked the regulatory agencies to ensure that International oil company (IOC) immediately carries out the required clean up exercise to protect indigenes of Peremabiri community from economic and health challenges.
Similarly, the Deputy Woman Leader of Peremabiri community, Mrs Favour Morgan, lamented that the spill had destroyed their fishing nets, traps, crops and polluted the whole aquatic environment and called for immediate remedial actions by the oil company.
She said: “This oil spill has thrown the Peremabiri people into despair, we are into farming and fishing as our means of livelihood and the toxic oil from Shell’s oil field has damaged our livelihood sources.
“We are helpless and in dire need of intervention by way of relief and succour to farmers and fishermen,” Morgan added.
