Some Civil Society Organisations, community leaders and activists have been denied access to the Nembe oil spill site within the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 operated by Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production. 

They were in the Santa Barbara River during the weekend to confirm the capping of the leaking well but were prevented by security operatives who cordoned off the area.

The team included representatives of Environmental Right Action (ERA), Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Community Leaders from Nembe, Civil Liberties Organisation and some Niger Delta activists. 

Executive Director of ERA, Chima Williams, said that the control of the security apparatus by the oil companies left much to be desired.

He called for proper clean up of the Nembe crude oil spill which, he said, has affected the people negatively, as well as aquatic lives. 

“The crude oil that they are cleaning up still enters back to the same river that they are flushing.

“There is no facility that is created to contain the same flushing dirty water that has sediment, which remains polluted.

“This is creating problems for those living in this environment and the aquatic lives in the ecosystem,” he said.

The executive director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey, said the team was at the spill site to verify the news that the spill was curtailed and assess the damage done to the environment.

“Our team came to see things for ourselves following information we got that the spill has been stopped.

“We thought that they would be willing to show to the world that the spill has been contained, but they barred us from the place.

“They kept our boats floating and tossed us around from one security houseboat to another. This is a very embarrassing and sad development,” Mr Bassey said.

He alleged that a conservative estimate of about 4,000 barrels of crude oil was discharged into the ecosystem, which is not healthy for the inhabitants who depend on the water for fishing and domestic use.

A Niger Delta activist, Ann-Kio Briggs, criticised the overbearing attitude of the oil firm and said that denying environmentalists access to the environment created suspicion.

She said that from the evidence before them as shown by withered vegetation, “the magnitude and impact of the spill is huge.”

She said that the generation yet unborn would still feel the impact of the oil spill, which had already affected the people negatively. 

A NAN correspondent who accompanied the team learnt that the restriction of all activities near the wellhead including navigation by engine-powered boats was a directive by regulatory agencies.

On its website, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) stated that the restriction was a temporary one pending the conclusion of a suspended joint investigation of the November 5 incident.