FG threatens oil companies involved in oil spillage

THE Federal Government has announced plans to institute stiffer punishments for companies involved in oil spillage in the country, likening the latest incident in OML29, Nembe, Bayelsa State to Hiroshima atomic bomb site. 

The Minister of Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, who made the declaration Thursday at the weekly ministerial press briefing organised by the presidential media team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, disclosed that the ministry is engaging other relevant government agencies to resolve the problem. 

Ikeazor said a bill is being worked out to amend the law establishing the National Oil Spillage Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to build its capacity and give it “the needed teeth to bite.” 

She said the operating company of the OML29 in Nembe, Bayelsa State, has attributed the most recent oil spillage in the country to sabotage by the locals.

However, she announced that after several weeks, the spillage has now been brought under control with necessary personnel and equipment deployed to begin recovery and remediation efforts.

Ikeazor further stressed the need to put an end to artisanal refineries, which she said had continued to cause pollution in the Niger Delta.

She noted that something must be done about the ongoing gas flaring, noting that the country cannot be committed to zero net emission and be flaring gas at the same time.

Fielding questions on the spillage, Ikeazor said, “On the Aiteo oil spills, you remember the ministry of environment issued a statement stating what happened and the action being taken. It’s a collective action between the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Ministry of Environment and the oil company involved.

“It goes beyond the oil companies giving out palliatives. They must put measures in place to prevent such accidents from happening.

“They are also claiming that the spill was due to sabotage by the local communities. We are going to have a targeted approach to illegal bunkering, tampering with oil installation and artisanal mining in the Niger Delta to get alternative livelihood for the young people of the Niger Delta, so that they would desist from this because it is further polluting the environment.

“The situation has been brought under control. I got a brief from DG of NOSDRA who was out on the field. So, now, work has to start on the proper clean-up.

“I got briefings through the director of NOSDRA, and what I saw in terms of the pollution either through oil refining or illegal oil refining and otherwise – the devastation of the Niger Delta is massive. As we are cleaning up, what we are cleaning up is minute compared to the devastation going on.

“So, it is something that government needs to tackle headlong. I hope they would have put the picture on (slide show), it was like a Hiroshima site.

“This something we must tackle headlong. We are beyond talking and having workshop.

“We need to put stiffer penalties, build the capacity of NOSDRA which is the regulatory agency in the oil sector to be able to have the teeth to bite. Without enhancing their capacity and reaffirming the legal framework, getting it stronger, they can’t do much. These are areas we are looking into.”

The minister also lamented that the rate of deaths from smoke-induced illnesses, especially among women in the country, is the highest in the world, saying that government is hoping to reintroduce clean stove and the Liquified petroleum Gas (LPG) stove initiative to ameliorate the problem and protect the nation’s biodiversity.

Speaking on the achievements of the ministry, Ikeazor observed that Nigeria has sent a strong message to the world with the signing of the Climate Change Bill into an act by President Buhari.

According to her, the measures taken so far affirm the country’s commitment to the Paris agreement on climate change. On the Ogoni clean-up exercise, the minister noted that the work cannot be completed in one or two years . The minister added,

“For us in the Ministry of Environment, our major achievements have been in the area of flood and erosion control. We have a project being run under the ministry of environment, but with the World Bank-Assisted programme.”

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