Fresh crude oil spill dampens excitement in Ogoni land

A fresh crude oil spill occurred in Ogale, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, on Monday, February 3 dampening the joy of signing into law the Federal University of Environmental Technology, Ogoni, by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The bill for the federal University passed by the National Assembly was sponsored by Senator Barinaadaa Mpigi who represents the Rivers South-East Senatorial District. Members of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre’s (YEAC-Nigeria) “One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta” in the affected area of the spill said that the oil spill allegedly occurred at the Ogale Manifold. The volunteers also reported that the manifold spill, after it filled the underground pits, started flowing freely to the pipeline right of way that separated Lot-1 of the Ogoni cleanup Project of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) of the Federal Ministry of Environment in Ogale.
They said that the spill must have occurred at the manifold owned and operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria, a company that the community has been in a United Kingdom High Court with till date over previous oil spills. “The accident is caused by equipment (valve) failure and contractors were seen carrying out maintenance work on the facility today (yesterday)”, they said. The volunteers alleged that there was a violent application of force by the Eleme Youth President, Mr. Walter Olaka during his visit to the spill site with alleged armed boys, “confiscating trucks that were being used to evacuate the spilled crude oil, beating up some of the drivers whose trucks were already seized and parked at the Eleme Council Secretariat and injuring some persons in the process including Mr. Gift Gongogo Nene who was allegedly daggered on the head by some boys invaded the scene with dangerous weapons”. 
 While calling for Police investigation into the incidents with a view to restoring peace among the warring parties, the Advocacy Centre, through its Crude Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS), in a statement in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital signed by its Executive Director, Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to carry out a joint investigation visit (JIV) on the spill site. “We appeal to the management of NOSDRA to, as a matter of urgency, invoke sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021 and ensure that containment and clean-up are done with adequate compensation paid to those whose economic crops are negatively impacted by the spill in the area”, Dr. Fyneface said.