Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Gas leaks from a facility formally operated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited has rocked Sangama Community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The facility, our correspondent gathered was recently divested by SPDC to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited.
According to locals, the gas leaks was first noticed last Saturday and has been diffusing uncontrollably into the community, with no plans by NPDC to clamp the leaking facility.
Youth Leader of Sangama Community, Mr. Iyalla John-Jumbo, said the community has contacted Shell but no intervention has been made by the company.
John-Jumbo lamented that the community has been deserted due to fears that a repeat of similar gas leaks which occurred in the community in 2020, resulted in loss of taste and loss of smell.
He recalled that during the similar incident in 2020, some persons were hospitalized while several others suffered varied symptoms of inexplicable ailments during the time of the incident, hence when it occurred this time, several persons hurriedly the community.
“We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Nyesom Wike, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari and other stakeholders to compel NPDC to quickly shut down the facility in order to mitigate any further impact on the area,” the youth leader said.
Meanwhile, the management of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company is yet to react on the matter.
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