Egi Gas Leak Defies Total’s Expertise …One Month After

Despite the assurances of immediate
remediation by Total Nigeria over the gas explosion emanating from its Obite
multi-billion naira gas plant, the eruption still continues unabated several
weeks after it was reported by the host communities.

Our investigations reveal that though Total
has put on ground some remedial measures, emission is still noticeable at
several points  within the Ibewa cluster
zone which includes Egita , Obite, Ogbogu and Obieyebe communities.

Worst hit by the explosion is  Egita community where over 12 points of
emission were noticed covering several hectares of land but now declared a
no-go- zone” by the company’s management due to hazardous nature of the gas
oozing out from the plant.

When The Tide visited the area, some staff
of the company were seen, apparently striving to effect remedial measures while
some youths were on guard on vigilante/surveillance mission to ensure that
unauthorised persons steer clear from the area for security considerations.

Though, the Directorate of Petroleum
Resources (DPR) officials and some members of Rivers State House of Assembly
Committees on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources had visited the site
and assured the affected communities of their safety, the people told our
correspondent that several deaths had been recorded since the first explosion
that occurred on April 9, 2012.

Egita’s youths president, Bernard Ezekiel
told our reporter that since the eruption started, farmers and fishermen no
longer access their farms and rivers, two major sources of livelihood of the
indigenes of the area, adding that Egita people were now subjected to all
manner of deprivation occasioned by the gas explosion.

Mr Ezekiel described as highly unacceptable
the impression given by Total’s management that it would take between three to
four months before the situation would be fully contained.

His counterpart, Mr Benson Ugochukwu,
Chairman of Egita Community Development Committee explained that Total had been
exploiting oil and gas from the community for over 23 years embarking on
lateral or diversionary drilling without compensating the community, affirming
that the gas eruption was a clear case which God used to expose the company’s
antics for exploitation of the people.

The CDC chairman said that the community
had explored all avenues to dialogue with the company but to no avail, adding
that Egita people had been pushed to the wall for so long. “We shall soon react
in way that Total’s management may not find funny at all”, he declared.

The community, he further explained had
sent a SOS appeal to the management, in
which Egita people demanded among other things, direct negotiation with
Total, siting of a rig in Egita, adequate reparation/compensation and
relocation of the people to a safe zone.

Meanwhile, DPR officials met with Assembly
Joint Committee on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources and assured the
committee members that DPR was on top of the situation as it was working round
the clock to curtail the gas explosion.

DPR’s Zonal Operations Controller, Mrs
Sibeudu who led a team to the Assembly told the committee that experts were
working assiduously to ensure a safe environment for the people, and assured
that the emitted gas from the gas facility was not as harmful as people
thought.

Mrs Sibeudu explained that the level of
concentration of the emitted gas was not too high as it evaporates into the
atmosphere, and said that Total had already shut down its plant to reduce the
emission.

She also revealed that equipment had been
procured for remediation, noting that contrary to views expressed in some
quarters, the situation was not escalating as DPR was monitoring the incident
round the clock.

In her response, Hon Victoria Nyeche
representing PHALGA Constituency 1 and Chairman, House Committee on Environment
urged DPR and Total to ensure that the people and environment were safe, as
members of the Assembly would always protect their constituents.

The committee also met with a team from
Egita community, and assured it of the people’s safety at all times. She also
promised to liaise with the management of the French oil giant so that it could
negotiate with the community on the way forward.