Oil spill wey burst like rain, sack communities for Bonny Island

Oil spill from one crude oil piping wey allegedly belong to di Nigerian National Petroleum Company limited (NNPCL) don destroy some communities for Bonny local goment area of Rivers State, Southern Nigeria.

One of di community elders Seth L. Adolphus tell BBC say di spill happun on Saturday 23 November 2024 for Iloma community.

E say di spill quickly spread to oda surrounding communities sake of di strong current of di river as e dey flow down.

"Na around seven to 8pm for night na im we hear loud sound. We bin think say na Navy pipo dey work as dem dey near us but we come feel sometin like rain dey fall on di roofs so we run inside.

"Na for di morning of Sunday wen day break we see say na oil spill wey happun and di oil don cover di whole river and di smell dey very strong. So we get to evacuate evribodi comot go Bonny main town."

To avoid any possible fire outbreak and sake of di strong stench of di crude oil, dem begin evacuate di community pipo comot go Bonny Main town.

'Sake of di oil spill we no fit fish again’

A community leader for Iloma community, Warisenibo Valentine Hart add say di oil spill don affect di community pipo badly becos dem be mainly fishermen but now dem no fit fish again.

E say di oil spill don affect di river and vegetation and displace di pipo as dem gatz comot from dia village.

"We dey in distress now becos we no fit go fishing or go pick periwinkle as na wetin our pipo dey take survive. All di farmlands dey affected so we need goment to come clean up di place quick-quick for us so we fit go back home, you know say Bonny no get any IDP camp so na friends and family members we dey manage with for Bonny."

Seth Adolphus say some officials bin come close di head of di spill to stop further spills but di spread still dey move wit di river tide and e need immediate remediation.

'Di spill na bad environmental hazard'

"Di oil spill na bad environmental hazard and we want NNPCL to begin immediate remediation work, for di affected areas and communities to check any further devastation" na so Prof Ibitoru Hart tok.

Prof Hart na di Chairman Bonny Environmental Consultants Committee (BECC) and she confam to BBC say di incident happun for pipeline wey dey along pipeline right of way for latitude 4.447338° and longitude 7.192392° for Iloma community, Bonny LGA.

For statement wey she sign, Prof Hart say di oil spill don spread reach oda communities like Minima, Ayaminima, Orupiri, Oloma, Epelema, Oguede, Coconut Estate, Okpoma and Burukiri among oda communities for Bonny LGA.

"We no fit get access to communities like Epelema, Iloma, Orupiri, Minima, Ayaminima and Oguede wit outboard powered engine boat due to di high volume of crude oil on di water," di Prof tok.

She say no fishing activities fit happun for anybody dos areas.

Di statement add say di BECC inspect di pipeline wia di incident happun and dem get reason to believe say na third party interference cause am.

However, dem no happy say NNPCL either by dem sef or through dia subsidiary go send maintenance team to Iloma community without any form of engagement wit di affected communities.

NNPCL never make any statement about di spill but we dem make effort to reach dem.

On September 6 2021, oil spill bin happun for Sandfill Bonny wey spread to Mongolo creek for Finima town and e devasrate di environment.

Oil spill after oil spill don turn di Niger Delta, for southern Nigeria, into one of di most polluted places on Earth.

Dis na sometin wey dey very dangerous. In some cases militant groups dey blow up pipelines.

In oda cases, communities dey accuse oil companies of negligence wey make producing communities dey suffer.