Dennis Naku
Six months after a gas leak affected several locations within the Oil Mining Lease in Bille community, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, residents say they are still grappling with its impact on their health, water sources and ecosystem.
The community has called for urgent intervention by the Federal Government and relevant agencies to provide relief and address the environmental damage.
The appeal was made during a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, where a documentary titled “From Extraction To Eruption: Oil, Gas And The Unfolding Environmental And Health Crisis In Bille Kingdom,” produced by a civil society organisation, Social Action, was presented.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Bille Kingdom Council of Traditional Rulers, Chief Bennett Okpokiye-Dokubo, said the situation required urgent and coordinated intervention from the Federal Government and oil companies operating in the area.
He called for the emergency provision of potable water, independent and transparent environmental and gas risk assessments, deployment of mobile health services for screening and treatment, containment of hazardous zones, and preparedness for evacuation if conditions worsen.
While commending the Rivers State Government for its donation to the community, he said the scale of the crisis went beyond financial palliatives.
“We acknowledge the donation of N100m to the community by the Rivers State Government for palliative measures. While this may be commendable, the magnitude of the crisis being faced by the people of Bille, both old and young, is far beyond what money can address.
“Even as a palliative measure, governments at all levels owe it a duty to put in place measures to ensure the crisis does not escalate,” Okpokiye-Dokubo said.
The Secretary of the Bille Kingdom Council of Chiefs, Luckyman Egila, urged international bodies, regulators and development partners to ensure accountability from oil operators.
“Communities like Bille, which have borne the burden of extraction for decades, cannot be left to bear the consequences alone,” he said.
Reacting to the documentary, the Programme Manager of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Kentiebe Ebiaridor, expressed concern that six months after the incident, no company had accepted responsibility for the affected pipelines.
“We have seen similar incidents before, but one key question remains unanswered—who is responsible? The culprit has not been identified, which raises serious concerns,” he said.
He also questioned why findings from the Joint Investigation Visit had not been made public, despite their importance in identifying responsible parties.
Presenting the report, the Resource Justice, Democracy and Governance Manager of Social Action, Prince Edegbuo, said the findings highlighted severe environmental and health risks facing residents.
“What is happening in Bille Kingdom is not just an isolated environmental anomaly; it is a growing disaster. Gas bubbling in water sources, including wells, signals a dangerous mix of environmental contamination, public health risks and livelihood disruption.
“With a significant portion of water sources affected, residents are exposed through drinking, skin contact and inhalation,” he said.
The report called for urgent, coordinated intervention, stressing the need for transparent investigations, accountability and long-term remediation.
It urged regulatory agencies, particularly the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, to conduct open investigations and release all relevant environmental data.
The report also called for the enforcement of the polluter-pays principle to ensure responsible parties bear the cost of cleanup, restoration and compensation.
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