‘Life has been difficult’, Fishermen Lament Aiteo OML 29 Oil Spill

Fishermen operating along the Santa Barbra River and Nembe creeks in Bayelsa on Wednesday lamented the negative effect of the November 5, 2021 oil spill from Aiteo’s oilfield in the area.

The management of Aiteo, an indigenous oil firm that operates the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29, says the leak remains ongoing even as it has sought foreign technical assistance to cap the leaking oil well.

Meanwhile, the oil firm has said that it had yet to ascertain the volume of crude discharged into the environment.

Chief Kellcy Ayebaemi-Dio, Chairman, Torusun Fishing Communities/settlements, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday that the volume of oil leaked had overwhelmed the predominantly fishing population.

He said the spill had thrown residents of the 41 fishing settlements in the Nembe speaking area of Bayelsa out of business, following the pollution of the waters and contamination of their fishing gears.

“Our artisanal fishing vocation has been threatened and halted abruptly and the daily income from our daily expedition has ceased for about three weeks now.

“Life has been difficult and we are even exposed to gas pollution on a daily basis.

“The well, we are meant to understand, is a gas well consisting 80 percent of gas and 20 percent of crude, and all the response has been on oil recovery, and nothing is done about gas.

“The ratio speaks volumes of the danger before us as our people face respiratory difficulties.

“We are told that Aiteo sent relief materials but the quantity that trickled down to each community of about 200 people was less than two bags each of rice, garri, and beans.

“The relief materials are grossly inadequate and we have lost daily income while the leak has lasted,” he stated.

Ayebaemi-Dio urged the Bayelsa Government to emulate Aiteo and “come to our aid at this point, being a state that earns billions of naira from the oil derivation fund monthly.”

It would be recalled that the state government had berated Aiteo’s sluggish pace of response to the spill and its inability to plug the pinging leak.

The state government had warned the oil firm to be ready to take responsibility for polluting the waterways.

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