Assembly Probes Agip For Oil Spill In Rivers Community

THE Rivers State House of Assembly has ordered investigation into a petition brought before it against the operations of Nigerian Agip Oil Company in Owube community, Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State.

A lawmaker representing Ahoada West Constituency, Mr. Okpokiri Nwanaka Okpokiri, had on Wednesday, submitted a three-page petition, asking the House to intervene in the deplorable situation of the Owube community damaged by oil spill in the area.

Okpokiri alleged that NOAC had also failed to pay adequate compensation to the people of Owube for the damages caused by oil spill, fire outbreak and gas leakage in the community.

The lawmaker, who sponsored the petition, said he was constrained to bring to the notice of the House “the dehumanisation, harassment, impunity and pains that NAOC had brought to the people of community.”

Also, the petitioner, Mr. Endurance Moses, who is the Community Development Chairman of Owube, recalled in the petition that an oil spill occurred on August 23, 2015, at Ebucha/Rumuekpe/Ogoda pipeline belonging to NAOC in Owube community.

“About 6.15pm, the NAOC team and the surveillance supervisor, Mr. Gowon Okoko, arrived in the community, promising that they would come on August 24, 2015, for inspection, dialogue and clamping.

“So, on August 24, the NAOC team, soldiers, NSCDC, NOSDRA, representatives of DPR and the Ministry of Environment arrived the community and they ordered the community elders to meet with them at the outskirts of Owube community,” Moses said in the petition.

The petitioner demanded that adequate compensation, in form of relief materials to support the Owube community, recompense for damage caused by the oil spill, and compensation for trauma suffered from intimidation and harassment by the NAOC team, soldiers and others, should be given to the people of the community.

“The next day, after excavation of the spill point, the NAOC team invited the entire agency and the community for inspection. These bodies refused invitation to the spill point demanding that NAOC must shut down their system for proper inspection,” the petitioner said.

Punch