Residents of Obelle, Ibaa and Aminigboko communities in Rivers have urged the federal government to compel Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to clean up oil spills in their communities.

The oil spills occurred in 2016.

Speaking on behalf of the communities, January Igoma said at a news conference in Port Harcourt on Wednesday that the spills had displaced residents from their homes and livelihoods.

He said oil pollution in the Ibaa and Obelle communities in the Emohua council and the Aminigboko community in the Abua/Odual council had contaminated surface and groundwater.

Mr Igoma said that tests conducted in the affected areas revealed Benzene levels more than 24,000 times above the World Health Organisation-recommended safety limit in both surface and groundwater.

He said, “The environmental challenges posed by oil spills, air pollution and loss of biodiversity have become significant issues for the residents of Obelle, Ibaa and Aminigboko communities in Rivers.

“In 2016, the family of Samual Chukwure discovered that their hand-dug well suddenly filled with crude oil, contaminating the water inside. To date, SPDC has not taken steps to remediate the environment, relocate, or compensate the family.”

Mr Igoma said SPDC was notified of the incident, but the company only sealed off the affected well without further action.

“A recent visit to the site on May 2  showed family members still living at the site amid the pollution seven years after. The family simply seeks relocation to a safe and secure place and compensation paid for the damages they have endured,” he said.

Mr Igoma recounted an explosion at a gas wellhead-4 operated by SPDC in the Obella community in 1998, which caused a fire to burn more than 30 hectares of land for about three months.

He said during the firefighting efforts, SPDC used toxic chemicals that further harmed the health and livelihoods of people of the community.

“Following the addition of chemical by SPDC to control the fire, these chemicals washed up into the community’s aquifer, worsening the health and livelihoods of the people. 

“The only solution proffered by SPDC was to acquire the lands without providing an alternative for farming. To this day, no compensation has been provided, leaving the community to suffer untold hardship due to insufficient land to farm,” he said.

Mr Igoma also highlighted the devastating impact of oil pollution in Aminigboko community, Abual/Odual LGA, on the land and air quality in the area.

He said that despite recommendations from an environmental impact assessment conducted by the Dutch National Contact Point, SPDC has failed to comply with the recommendations made on February 10.

“Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre environmental and socio-economic assessment conducted in Ibaa community in 2022 revealed extensive crude oil contamination in seven groundwater and four soil samples within a 6-kilometre radius.

“The assessment recommended relocating affected families and others within 1,500 metres across the SPDC pipeline right of way to safe locations within the community. It also recommended providing safe drinking water for the community, rectifying the leakage cause, and implementing other long-term remedies,” he said.

Mr Igoma urged the government, SPDC, regulatory agencies, and the global community to take urgent actions to address the issues in these communities.

Emem Okon, the executive director of Kebetkache, expressed concern over SPDC’s delayed interventions in the communities. She said Kebetkache, a Rivers-based advocacy group, had been calling since 2021 for immediate environmental remediation and dialogue between the communities and SPDC.

(NAN)