The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and the Bayelsa State Government not to conceal the result of laboratory analysis of the sample of fresh crude oil deposits discovered around the environment of Otuabula II community in the Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.
Head of ERA/FoEN in the state, Mr Alagoa Morris, made the call in a field report on the discovery, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent in Yenagoa.
A team comprising officials of the state government, NOSDRA and ERA/FoEN accompanied by the head of landlord family, Thompson Okpukpu-isi, and security personnel had recently visited the site.
The report quoted Governor Douye Diri’s Senior Special Assistant on Oil and Gas, Mr Timi Seimiebo, who led the team, as saying that NOSDRA took samples of the crude oil for laboratory test during the visit to the location in Otuabula II bush.
Seimiebo said the team asked the community people questions on whether the crude oil was authentic and if it was not a product of bunkering activities or leakage from a facility in the area.
“It is a virgin place and everybody has seen there is no pipeline here. So we cannot say it is a pipeline leakage. We have asked the community people whether there are any bunkering activities going on here. They said no,” he said.
The governor’s aide continued: “Anybody doing local refinery operations here, they said no. So the next thing is for the federal and state government to take action. Firstly, we wait for the test result to come out, then other necessary steps will follow.
“If the result shows that it is a refined crude oil substance, the finger print will tell us whichever company that owns it. That’s the simple truth. However, if it turns out to be new discovery, it will eventually add to the revenue of the state.”
However, Morris urged the state government and NOSDRA to make public the result of the laboratory analysis and also inform the landlord family, community and stakeholders, accordingly.
The environmental rights activist further advocated that the landlord family and the community should never be sidelined if the result of the sample turned out to be genuine fresh crude oil, especially in negotiations.
He said, “The Bayelsa State Government and NOSDRA should make the result of the sample test public, especially to the family, community and all stakeholders who visited the site of interest as soon as it is out.
“Not just for Otuabula II, if the substance taken for laboratory analysis turns out to be crude oil, but the issue of best environmental practices by oil companies should always be stressed whenever new negotiations are to be initiated with host communities, including renewal of MoUs to avoid the bitter experiences (host) communities go through.”
