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Group Alerts On Another Oil Spill In Ogoni
An environmental rights group in the Niger Delta, Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), has alerted on a fresh oil spill in Bodo Community in Gokana Local Government Area (Ogoniland) of Rivers State.
A statement signed by the centre’s Executive Director, Fyneface DumnameneFyneface, yesterday, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt, said that “Members of YEAC-Nigeria’s grassroots monitors and advocacy team under the auspices of ‘One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta’ reported that the new spill occurred in Bodo in the late evening of Wednesday, August 24, 2022.
“This new oil spill in Bodo Community is the second in the Month of August, 2022 alone after there was a spill also reported by advocacy centre on August 2.
“The August 2, 2022 oil spill from Shell’s facility which the standards of measurement was not known to the public was reported to have spilled only ‘five barrels’ of oil into the environment, blamed on equipment failure after Joint Investigation Visit (JIV), Shell accepted responsibility for the spill and discussion for the payment of compensation and clean-up currently ongoing.
“According to advocacy centre’s member in Bodo Community who reported this new oil spill in a WhatsApp message to the Executive Director, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface by 4:23AM (local time) on August 25, the new spill occurred on the Trans Niger Delta Pipeline (TNP) in Bodo City ‘… as a result of equipment failure’.
“He reported that ‘Another oil spill as a result of equipment failure on the TNP within Kol Taa area behind Saint Pius 10th College, Bodo City, Gokana LGA, Rivers State. Please take note’.
“While not concluding on the possible cause of the new oil spill in Bodo Community as reported by its member till Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) is carried out, YEAC-NIGERIA condemns this new oil spill.
“The organisation calls on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), SPDC and other relevant authorities to immediately mobilise for a consultative meeting with the community leadership, carryout a well-representative Joint Investigation visit (JIV) that includes the media, non-governmental organisations and other relevant stakeholders to determine and confirm the cause of the spill and then take appropriate steps to clamp the spill point, clean up the environment and pay adequate compensation to members of the community that have been impacted by the oil spill.
“Advocacy centre strongly frowns at the incessant oil spills in Bodo, other communities in Ogoni and across the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
“We also call on Shell and other concerned oil companies to use this opportunity of reduction in the pressure of crude oil transported through the Trans Niger Pipeline due to mass tapping by alleged crude oil thieves to overhaul the aged facility by replacing the out-dated and obsolete pipes that are bursting and deflating like balloons to forestall further equipment failures and spilling of more crude oil into the fragile Niger Delta environment.
“It would be recalled that similar oil spills in Bodo Community in 2008, among others, made the community drag Royal Dutch Shell before a London High Court. Shell later opted for out-of-court settlement, accepted responsibility for the spills and paid £55million compensation in 2015.
“A component of the 2015 out-of-court settlement process also saw SPDC carrying out special environmental clean-up in Bodo Community but the exercise is being complicated by re-pollution through new oil spills from further equipment failures including the August 2 and August 24, 2022 oil spills, among others”, the statement added.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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