Oil spill at Shell facility fouls Bayelsa community

Residents of Peremabiri community in Bayelsa state’s Southern Ijaw local government area say an oil spill from a Shell Petroleum facility has polluted water bodies and destroyed crops in the area.

A leak at the Diebu Creek flow station resulted in the discharge of crude oil into the community and nearby Nun River since October 3, residents said. The quantity of spilled oil was not yet known.

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria said a team comprising representatives of the government, community, the company and civil society, was investigating the cause and volume of spill.

“A government-led Joint Investigation Team is currently on a Joint Investigation Visit to the site of the incident to determine the cause and the impact of the incident,” company spokesperson Michael Adande told the News Agency of Nigeria.

Communities affected

Oil spills are common in the Niger Delta where decades of oil production have made the region one of the most polluted places on Earth. NOSDRA recorded 639 oil spills between 2019 and 2020, resulting in 28,003 barrels spewed into the environment, according to the agency’s data.

The oil industry attributes many oil spills to sabotage by people trying to steal crude, but experts say many spills happen because oil facilities are not properly maintained.

Yenimi Timipre, a fisher in the area, said the latest spill damaged her fishing gear. Favour Morgan, deputy woman leader in the community, said the spill destroyed fishing nets, traps, crops and polluted the aquatic environment.

“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,” Ms Morgan said.

“We are helpless and in dire need of intervention by way of relief and succour to farmers and fishermen.”

Alagoa Morris, programme manager at the Environmental Right Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), said the oil leak has adversely affected the predominantly farming and fishing settlements along the banks of River Nun.