Communities in Rivers State have raised alarm over recurring oil spills on their lands.
Barely two weeks after an oil spill was reported in Ahoada East, another spillage reportedly occurred on Monday in the Oshika community in the Ahoada West local government area of Rivers State.
The newsmen gathered that the fresh spillage was noticed in the early hours of Monday, May 19, in a pipeline right-of-way operated by Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, the new operator of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Ltd, divested facilities.
The initial spill, which occurred on May 5, 2025, on a 14-inch pipeline right-of-way operated by Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (RAEC), has yet to be remediated.
Consequently, farmlands and Rivers, which are a major source of livelihoods for the people, are being affected, thereby worsening the living conditions of the commuters.
A resident of Ahoada West, Mrs. Emelia Amadi, said, “the frequent oil spills in our land are becoming worrisome, our lands are steadily polluted, Rivers are affected, and this is having a devastating toll on our source of living.”
The Executive Director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said the spillage is suspected to have been caused by third-party interference, pending confirmation by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) through a comprehensive joint investigation team’s visit to the spill site in the Oshika community.
He said the Centre’s volunteer network, affiliated with the One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta and the Crude Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS), witnessed the incident and reported it.
He, however, called on NOSDRA to carry out a timely joint investigation visit to the site and invoke relevant sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, to hold those responsible accountable and ensure the operator clamps the spill point to mitigate the impact of the crude oil spill on the flora and fauna in the affected area.
