Serious tension and disagreement is brewing between Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria and critical stakeholders in Bayelsa State over the cause of an oil spill from its facility at Agbura-Otuokpoti area of Yenagoa, the state capital.
While SPDC argues that the spill may have been caused by sabotage in a pre-emptive move to avoid paying compensation in line with globally accepted ‘polluter pays policy’, civil society groups and community leaders disagree, alluding to the proximity of the spill site to a security outpost, which was expected to provide protection and cover to the facility from vandals and criminal elements.
The company’s Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan, confirmed the incident in an interview in Yenagoa, last Friday, just as he triggered the disagreements when he pre-empted sabotage as the cause of spill.
Odugbesan said the company got a report of the spill on March 31.
“At about 8.30am on March 31, a community surveillance vendor reported a leak on the company’s Joint Venture pipeline at Nun River in Bayelsa.
“Following the development, the facility was shut down and full isolation established at 09.45am.
“The SPDC Oil Spill Response Team was mobilised to the spill site, and was able to contain the spill to prevent further spread.
“The Joint Investigation Visit team led by government regulator will determine the cause and impact of the spill,” Odugbesan said.
He, however, said that there was an anonymous note found at the spill site, suggesting sabotage.
Residents, who said the oil workers had yet to come to the site as at Friday, have resorted to scooping crude oil from water surface into drums.
One of the residents, Daniel Ebitimi, who claimed that crude oil has curative effect on burns and skin diseases, said he collected some kegs, which he hoped to sell to interested buyers.
The people in the predominantly fishing and farming settlements regretted that the leakage discharged large volumes of crude oil into the river, resulting in pollution of the waters.
An environmentalist, Mr Collins Jackson, said the spill was discovered in the early hours of Wednesday, when the people noticed large volumes of crude floating on the river.
Jackson dismissed the company’s claim of prompt response and allegations of sabotage.
He said he visited the site of the leakage with other natives but did not find any oil worker, while crude oil continued to discharge into the water.
“The claim of an anonymous note suggesting sabotage is at best a fallacy because we visited the place immediately our people noticed crude oil on water, and we did not see any note.
“Why will SPDC jump into conclusion when the investigation has not been concluded?