BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) on Tuesday demanded urgent cleanup, compensation and accountability over an oil spill at Nembe Creek in Bayelsa.
The spill occurred on Aug. 22 during crude oil loading operations at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29.
The operational mishap disrupted fishing activities and threatened the livelihoods of coastal communities.
The facility is operated by Nembe Exploration and Production Ltd., formerly Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Ltd., within Oil Mining Lease 29 (OML 29).
HOMEF made the call after a field visit to the affected area, where crude oil was observed in waterways and along mangrove banks.
The organisation said the pungent smell of crude was noticeable about two kilometres before reaching the community.
It added that residents reported tidal movements had spread the pollution through interconnected waterways and fishing settlements.
According to HOMEF, affected communities depend heavily on fishing for food and income.
Residents reportedly complained of damaged fishing nets, reduced fish catches and inability to use the waterways for fishing and domestic purposes.
They also reported the disappearance of aquatic resources following the pollution.
Vice-Chairlady of Nembe Creek women, Mrs Love Mark, said the spill had made fishing nets unusable.
“We cannot go out with our fishing nets and hooks for fishing again,” Mark said.
She said a fishing net now cost between N150,000 and N170,000, making replacement difficult for affected residents.
The Paramount Ruler of Nembe Creek communities, HRH Agent Waya, said repeated pollution had severely affected fishing livelihoods.
“Due to the destruction of aquatic life, there are no fish in the river,” Waya said.
He said fishermen could use two or three canoes and still return without any catch.
Following the incident, community women reportedly protested at the oil facility, demanding cleanup, damage assessment and support for affected residents.
The Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) concluded that the leak was due to operational failure.
HOMEF, however, said the volume of crude released and the full geographical extent of the pollution remained inconclusive as of Sept. 1.
The Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said identifying the cause of a spill should not end the accountability process.
Bassey said the latest incident occurred against the background of previous pollution incidents associated with OML 29.
He specifically cited the prolonged 2021 Santa Barbara Well 1 spill and wellhead blowout.
He emphasised that recurring spills should be treated as a systemic environmental governance concern rather than isolated incidents.
HOMEF urged Nembe Exploration and Production Ltd., the Bayelsa Government and relevant federal regulatory agencies to publish the complete JIV findings.
It said the findings should include the cause, estimated volume, geographical extent and communities affected by the spill.
The organisation also demanded an independent and comprehensive environmental assessment of affected waterways, mangroves, fishing grounds and settlements.
HOMEF called for immediate cleanup and ecological restoration, with clear timelines and transparent monitoring mechanisms.
It also demanded urgent relief for affected households, particularly fishing families whose livelihoods had been disrupted.
The organisation called for compensation for verified livelihood and economic losses, including damaged fishing equipment and lost fishing time.
It further urged authorities to include all affected communities and fishing camps in JIVs, damage assessments, cleanup and monitoring.
HOMEF called for sustained environmental and health monitoring of water, sediments, fish and other aquatic organisms.
It also urged the strengthening of spill prevention and emergency response systems around crude-loading facilities.
The foundation said authorities must address the wider legacy of pollution in OML 29 rather than treat each incident separately.
HOMEF also called for protection of community fishing livelihoods from the wider operational activities associated with crude loading.
It cited the impacts of navigational buoys and vessel movements on fishing grounds and equipment.
The organisation said communities should not continue to bear the environmental and economic costs of oil extraction amid limited accountability.
HOMEF urged authorities and the operator to move beyond emergency responses and strengthen pollution prevention and transparent investigations.
It also called for meaningful community participation, ecological restoration and livelihood recovery as integral parts of environmental governance in Nembe.
The foundation said the people of Nembe Creek deserved clean waterways, protected livelihoods and environmental justice.
Public Affairs officials at Nembe Exploration and Production have kept mum over the incident and declined to provide requi
site updates on containment efforts.
Jude Ossai (JP) a veteran journalist is a National Diploma holder in Mass Communication from Ogwashi-Uku Polytechnic Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State. He also studied at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Enugu and Imo State University, Owerri for his first and second degrees in Mass Communication, respectively.
He writes extensively on politics, crime, corruption, climate change, healthcare, human rights, social justice, among others.
He began his journalism career in The Republic Newspaper, Lagos in 1987 as a Special Correspondent in Benin City, Edo State.
In 1990, he was posted from Lagos to old Anambra State as a State Correspondent in Enugu.
In 1994, he joined the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Ibadan, Oyo State, Publisher of Nigerian Tribune Newspapers where he rose to the rank of Southeast Bureau Chief.
Retiring from the mainstream traditional media in 2019, he began another journey in online newspaper publication.
He was the Overall Best Reporter in 2015, an award bestowed on him by Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State.
He has attended several workshops/seminars organised by multi-nationals, government institutions, local and international media including BBC.
He is also a unionist and had held top positions as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists of Enugu Correspondents’ Chapel and State Council of NUJ, respectively. He was also a one-time Enugu State Secretary of Sports Writers’ Association of Nigeria (SWAN).
