Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Barely three weeks after five barrels of crude from Shell’s Trans Niger Pipeline rocked Bodo community in Ogoniland, another spill from the same pipeline has occurred in the area.
It would be recalled that on August 2nd, 2022, an oil spill occurred in Bodo community from Shell’s Trans Niger Pipeline, which the company confirmed it was caused by equipment failure and 5barrels of crude was spilt.
Meanwhile, the second oil spill which became noticeable on Wednesday night, according to the locals, occurred within Deebom community behind Saint Pius Catholic College in Bodo, Gokana LGA of Rivers State.
Confirming the development, the Village Head of Deebom community, Chief Emma Pii, told our correspondent that Shell is aware of the incident and their helicopter has been hovering around the spill site.
Pii who is the Chairman of Village Heads in Bodo, blamed the spills on obsolete facilities from Shell, and called on the Dutch multinational to urgently carryout a total replacement of the Trans Niger Pipeline.
He recalled that similar spills occurred in 2008 which Shell later compensated the community with £55million and wondered why Shell has refused to change the pipeline in order to save the environment, despite being told to do so by the United Nations Environment Programme.
“These pipelines were laid around 1957 and 1958, with the acidity of the soil cause by salt water, the pipes have become old and corroded over time.
“Even UNEP in their Report recommend that Shell should decommissioned the TNP and replace them with a new one. But Shell has refused, rather what they do is sectional replacement; when there is a spill, they will just cut the particular spot and replace rather than replacing the entire stretch of the pipeline.”
Similarly, the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) said the fresh oil spills may not be unconnected to equipment failure, just like the previous one which occured in August 2nd.
Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Mr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, who condemned the incessant cases of oil spills in Ogoniland and Niger Delta region, which he said further degrades the already devastated environment
Fyneface called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, SPDC, community leadership and other relevant authorities to mobilize for a well-representative Joint Investigation Visit that includes the media, nongovernmental Organizations and other stakeholders to determine and confirm the cause of the spill.
He said the JIV will enable appropriate steps to clamp the spill point, clean up the environment and pay adequate compensation to members of the community that have been impacted by the oil spill.
“Advocacy Centre strongly frowns at the incessant oil spills in Bodo, other communities in Ogoni and across the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
“We also call on Shell and other concerned oil companies to use this opportunity of reduction in the pressure of crude oil transported through the Trans Niger Delta pipeline due to mass tapping by alleged crude oil thieves to overhaul the aged facility by replacing the outdated and obsolete pipes that are bursting and deflating like balloons to forestall further equipment failures and spilling of more crude oil into the fragile Niger Delta environment.”
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