Spillage: Bayelsa Stops Agip Operation

The Bayelsa State Government has ordered the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to shut down its facilities in Ayarabele and Kalaba communities in the Okordia Clan of Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state over rising cases of oil spills.
The state Commissioner of Environment, Mr. Inuro Wills, said government took the decision based on the need to allow a special investigative team to tackle spills-related cases in the state.
Wills, said the closure and subsequent investigation were triggered by the intolerable frequency of oil and gas spillages in the state, adding that “the grave consequences it portends for the people and communities have necessitated the setting up of the team.
“Following the recent gas spillage, which occurred on the 4th of September,2014, at a facility operated by the NAOC in the two communities, the ministry has asked the company to temporarily shut down operations in the area,” he said.
Meanwhile, the state government has announced that a meeting between the leadership of the impacted communities, officials of the state government and the NAOC has been fixed to discuss the incidence of spillage.
He said that the meeting will be used to “determine the cause of the recent Ayamabele and Kalaba gas spill and would signal the start of the state government programme of rapid and sustained environmental protection and enforcement.”