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Residents, CSOs Decry Heat from NNPCL Facility in Rivers Community
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Residents and indigenes of Buguma community in Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State have decried heavy heat and unusual atmosphere following days of fire incident that occurred in the area from a facility operated by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
THISDAY gathered that fire broke out in a wellhead of OML15, a facility of NNPCL, also known as Bukuma/Buguma flow station in the area.
It was further gathered that the raging inferno, which has lasted for four days as of the time of filing this report, was a result of shelling of the area by security agencies operations to ward off oil thieves from the wellhead, which has a spill.
A youth leader from Buguma, who disclosed his name as Taribo Horsefall lamented the impact of the fire on the livelihoods of the community.
President of Kalabari Youths Federation and leader of the team, Livingstone Membere that led journalists to the scene yesterday, explained that repeated raid by the security agents is responsible for the oil spill that now resulted in the fire outbreak.
Members, however, called on the government and relevant agencies to urgently put off the fire.
Meanwhile, civil society organisations have condemned the failure of the federal and state governments and as well the relevant agencies and the operator to put off the fire four days after it occurred.
The Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), in a statement made available to THISDAY in Port Harcourt, called for immediate action to stop the inferno.
EDEN called for urgent intervention by the relevant authorities to stop the oil spill from a leaking well head and resultant fire outbreak, describing the incident as an assault to the environment, which has been allowed to go on for too long.
In the statement signed by its Executive Director, Chima Williams, EDEN berated the Rivers State Ministry of Environment, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and oil regulatory agencies for not taking the necessary measures to protect the environment and the people from such high level environmental disaster.
The group insisted that “it was gross negligence of human and environmental rights.”
Williams said: “It is unfortunate that for the people of the localities involved, the year 2025 has started on a bad note with the disruption of the environment that sustains their livelihood.”
He noted that “In an ideal society where ministries and agencies of government are up and doing, an oil spill is not supposed to last for that long, talk more of a fire outbreak that could destroy human, aquatic and wildlife in a very short period.”
Williams stressed that aside the environmental and ecological damage, the people of that area have been exposed to several chemicals that could be detrimental to their health, considering how delicate the riverine terrain is.
He called on the Rivers State Ministry of Environment, NOSDRA and the other agencies to rise up to their responsibility of protecting the interest of the common people.
He further called on the military and security agencies to adopt more professional and environmentally friendly ways of tackling oil theft and bunkering.
On his part, the Chairman of Defence for Human Right and Democracy (DHRD), Clifford Christopher, threatened to mobilise mass protests and institute legal action against the government and the NNPCL if nothing urgent is done to quickly put off the fire.
Christopher explained that host communities of the Niger Delta region have continued to suffer impacts of oil exploration for decades and called for remediation and compensation processes for the impacted communities of the spill and fire outbreak.