Health of Mother Health Foundation (HOMEF), has again decried the recent oil spills that ravaged Aleto and Eteo communities in Eleme Local Government of Rivers State, saying it has crippled farming and fishing activities in the area.
HOMEF said the spills also destroyed the communities’ only source of potable water.
HOMEF and members of Oilwatch Nigeria that paid visits to the two scenes recently for an on-the-spot assessment to ascertain the level of response and possible
cleanup of the affected environment, said it met the environment still in a
sorry situation as nothing is being done to salvage or clean the pollutions caused by the spills.
A statement by HOMEF on Saturday signed by the Media and Communication Lead, Kome Odhomor, Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey, expressed displeasure that the oil companies are neither decommissioning their aged infrastructure nor ensuring that their facilities are in good working condition.
He regretted that rather than remediating the harm caused by their activities, more investments are being made by the oil companies to expand the areas of threat.
Bassey further lamented that two months after the spill occurred, the companies have yet to respond and interface with the communities in any meaningful way.
“It was heartbreaking to listen to the lamentation of the community women who now have no source of potable water and cannot process their cassava, a major staple due to the pollution of their stream. The insensitivity of the polluters and
regulatory agencies is appalling. These atrocious incidents are also compounding the work of HYPREP. While the agency is working to clean
some areas, these polluting incidents are threatening to erase their efforts.”
During the site visits, coordinator, Peoples Advancement Centre (PAC), and member Oilwatch Nigeria Celestine Akpobari, called on NOSDRA and
other relevant agencies of government to do the needful and send relief
materials to the starving people immediately.
“It is sad and very embarrassing that a spill of this magnitude at Eteo would happen in very close proximity to human habitation and the NPDC and the government of
Nigeria carries on as if nothing has happened to the people. It is worse that the spill has affected the community’s only source of drinking
water. It is not enough to just sneak in at night to clamp the pipe, the right thing must be done.”
While receiving the team of CSOs who visited his palace, His Royal Highness Emere Emmanuel T. Akobe the Paramount ruler of Eteo community
expressed shock over the attitude of the NPDC saying, “Our beautiful stream is dead, my people don’t deserve this type of treatment and after
we have brought the notice of the National Assembly, there is still no
response from them, and my people continue to suffer the impact of the
spill.”
HOMEF reiterates that Aleto and Eteo communities and the entire Niger Delta must not be treated like disposable or sacrifice zones for
profit-seeking endeavours.
NOSDRA should be more proactive in meeting the
challenging situations of oil spills in the region, while the polluting companies should urgently halt their polluting activities, clean up
their spills, and pay compensation to affected individuals and
communities.
The CSOs also demanded that oil companies decommission all aged pipelines and facilities in the region in line with UNEP
recommendations in the assessment of the Ogoni environment.
