Bayelsa Fishing Community Raises Alarm Over Oil Spill

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

Foropa, a fishing community along the Atlantic coastline in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa has raised the alarm concerning a ‘mystery’ oil spill that has left the coastline polluted.

Mystery spills refer to crude oil leaks from unknown sources where there are many oil firms operating near each other.

According to a January 8 notification letter signed by Olabai Olozulu, traditional ruler of Foropa, Middleton, the oil leak at the coastline was noticed on January 3.

The letter was addressed to the Head of Bayelsa Office of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa capital.

The letter stated that six oil firms operate within Foropa vicinity in Southern Ijaw LGA, including First E & P, Conoil Exploration, NEPL, Shell and Nigdel United Oil Company.

The community urged the regulatory agency and other government organs to trace the source of the spill and mitigate its impact on the predominantly fishing settlement and urged the oil firms to mobilise relief materials to reduce the sufferings of the people.

Head of NOSDRA in Bayelsa, Mr Chukwuemeka Iheanacho, confirmed that the agency was in receipt of the report and was planning a joint visit to the impacted site with all the oil companies operating in the area.

Iheanachor said a ‘fingerprinting’ analysis of the crude samples from the site would reveal the operator whose facility discharged the crude into the environment.

“We are planning a Joint Investigation visit by next Tuesday. I am writing to all the operators within the area to send their representatives because samples will be collected for fingerprinting,” Iheanacho said.

Chairman of Community Development Committee (CDC) in Foropa, Mr Darius Sese,  who spoke in a telephone chat yesterday, noted that the incident has adversely impacted fishing in the area.

He said that fishermen no longer make any catch since the spill occurred as fishes have migrated deeper into the Atlantic waters away from the coastline.