The House of Representatives has called on the Management of all companies who own facilities along the coastal areas to immediately contain and stop the oil leakages in some communities of Southern Ijaw area of Bayelsa State.
The House has also mandated its Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) to synergize with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government to carry out an extensive investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the Spillage.
The committee is also to ascertain which company’s Facility is responsible for the Spill, remediation activities put in place to contain the Spillage and future occurrence, assess the extent of devastation and impact to the Coastal Communities of Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency and Report to the House for further legislative action.
The further called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), National Oil Pollution Management Agency (NOPMA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Federal Ministry of Environment to pay assessment visits on the site with a view to ascertaining the level of environmental damage and recommend appropriate remedial measures.
These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance on the need to contain oil spillage in order to forestall further environmental damage in the affeected area, sponsored by Hon. Rodney Ambaiowei on Tuesday.
He noted that Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency and several constituencies of the South-South Nigeria host Oil Installations, Facilities and companies in the Oil exploration, exploitation and production process in Nigeria, adding that several Oil companies like FIRST E& P, Connoil, NEPL, SPDC and NIGDEL UNITED OIL Company have pipelines and other facilities which traverses many coastal communities in Southern Ijaw.
The lawmaker expressed shock that on the 3rd of January, 2024, the people of Foropah, Ekeni and Ezetu Kingdoms woke up to a devastating oil spillages from the atlantic which has destroyed their only source of livelihood, which is fishing and Farming, saying findings reveal that the Oil Spillage is occasioned by the leakages from the facilities operated by the following companies.
