The House of Representatives has called on the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to end leakages of petroleum products from its pipelines.
The call was sequel to the unanimous adoption of the motion at the plenary on Thursday titled, ‘Urgent Need to Curb the Oil and Gas Pineline Leakages in the Niger Delta Region.’
The House particularly called on the NAOC to “immediately ensure stoppage of the dangerous trend so as not to endanger the lives and property of students and academic activities of the institution.”
Also, the lawmakers called on the company to “investigate and unravel the immediate and remote causes of the leakage to avert future occurrences of the release of hazardous substances to the environment.”
The parliament further called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency to “immediately visit the affected area and liaise with the company to stop the flow from the pipelines to the neighbourhood.”
Sponsor of the motion, Lucky Nnam-Obi, noted that the oil and gas industry is one of the major hubs of economic activities in Nigeria, accounting for a high percentage of the country’s exports since independence. He added that oil pipelines constitute crucial means of transporting crude oil in the country and are, therefore, strategically important to oil production.
According to the lawmaker, with the Petroleum Industry Act, a substantial percentage of the pipelines are owned by international oil companies, including NAOC.
He said: “The Nigerian Agip oil Company owns pipelines passing through the Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku, Rivers State. The institution has been facing severe environmental pollution rising from leakages of the oil pipeline and gas as well in the school premises causing tension and danger to students and citizens alike. The leakages are a combination of failure of equipment and the handiwork of vandals.
“The House worries that crude oil and gas have been leaking consistently in the school premises and other farmlands around the area recently without immediate action to address the leakages. Academic activities are almost paralyzed due to spillage by the pipeline owned by Nigerian Agip Oil Company.
“The attention of the Nigeria Agip Oil Company has been drawn to this environmental disaster but the company’s reaction has been slow and lethargic, while the lives of the students and the people of communities around the institution are in grave danger.”
Nnam-Obi added, “The House is concerned that the failure to urgently address this disaster, the lives of students and staff of the institution and the people in my constituency would be in grave danger. The danger of the leakage could potentially destroy the institution if fire from the leakages ignites the school premises.”
