…Claim of sabotage premature – Okaba
As the spread of the oil spill from Aiteo’s oil wellhead in Nembe, Bayelsa State continues unabated, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, to immediately visit the site and the affected communities to assess the extent of spillage and damage.
Buhari’s order came as the Ijaw National Congress, INC, led by Prof. Benjamin Okaba, condemned the sabotage claim of the management of Aiteo Exploration and Production Company, operator of the affected wellhead even when a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) was yet to be carried out.
However, while fielding questions from the State House Correspondents shortly after a meeting with President Buhari Wednesday, Sylva, disclosed that the President had given him a marching order to visit the site of the spillage and the communities affected to assess the level of damage.
He said: “It is also one of the issues I discussed with the President as a minister and he has asked us to go and visit the site to assess the situation and report back.
“Definitely, we are quite concerned with what is happening in Nembe and we will be going there very soon, tomorrow in fact, to go and look at what is happening and report back.”
Sylva expressed the President’s concern on the spread of the spillage, especially the adverse effect on the environment, adding that the government does not tolerate such.
While addressing a press conference in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital on Tuesday, Okaba, condemned the management of the operators of the OML 29, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company for its yet-to-be verified claim that the spillage was an act of sabotage by a third party.
Okaba, who faulted the company’s claim of sabotage when a Joint Investigation Visit was yet to be carried out, noted that such position was not only pre-emptive but prejudicial, adding that it was unacceptable.
“First and foremost, we want to express our dismay over the position of Aiteo that the oil spill was caused by sabotage. The INC considers this position as prejudicial and pre-emptive, and it is unacceptable.
“Since the leak occurred, Aiteo has been complaining that it does not have the capacity to mobilise personnel to clamp the leaking point on the facility. So the question is: without the JIV, how did they come up to ascertain that it is caused by sabotage?”
While expressing concern about the inability of Aiteo to contain the oil spill, Okaba faulted the company’s supply of 200 bags of rice as relief materials for the affected communities, adding that it was grossly insufficient for all the affected communities.
“Our investigation has told us that they (Aiteo) sent only 200 bags. This is inhumanity taken too far. 200 bags of rice is what a company that has destroyed people’s lives is talking about.
“They are not even ashamed of themselves. They should be ashamed of themselves to even attribute the incident to sabotage. We are too smart for that kind of dirty politics.”
“The place is still leaking, it is of a peculiar nature because it is not from the pipeline. It is coming from the flow under, to the extent that it is difficult for any living being to even access the spot of damage. It requires high technology,” he stated.
Aiteo, through its spokesman, Mathew Ndianabasi, had said that the company was mobilizing technical expertise both locally and internationally to contain the spill, adding that it was doing everything possible to key the wellhead and stop the flow.
The Director, Asset Production of the Company, Andrew Oru, while describing the nature of the spill, said that it was 15% crude oil and 85% gas, adding that efforts were being made to contain the flow and commence investigation to determine the cause of the leak.
Oru who spoke in an interview with Channels TV, said: “Immediately the incident happened, we moved our experts and equipment to contain it and make sure it does not disperse.”
“We are suspicious as to what may have happened to the well. We do not want that to be a repeat. We have commenced investigation to determine the real cause of the event,” he added.
The New Diplomat’s investigation reveals that it is exactly three weeks and one day now since the wellhead exploded leading to the massive leakages into the creeks of Bassambiri, in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
As the spill continues, the health and source of livelihood of the residents of several impacted communities are being jeopardized as crude oil continues to spread to more communities.
