The Arewa Consultative Youth Movement, a northern sociopolitical pressure group, has alleged hijack and politicisation of the spill at the OML 29 Oil Well 1 in Nembe local government area of Bayelsa state operated by Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPC).
President of the group and convener, Association of Northern Youth Groups, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf in a statement expressed dismay that some critical stakeholders were toeing the path of politicking rather than lend their support in arresting the unfortunate situation.
It could be recalled that on November 5, 2021, Aiteo reported a major oil leak from its Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29, the Santa Barbara South field, in Nembe, Bayelsa State from a blowout which was spewing oil into the immediate water bodies and contiguous communities and fumes in the air.
The Arewa youth group pointed out that immediately the incidence occurred, Aiteo activated technical containment measures and quickly invited highly competent foreign based technical experts with experience of managing emergencies of such nature to help arrest the situation.
 Noting that the oil firm has since mobilized to ground zero and has fully deployed measures to contain the leak and provided relief materials to the affected communities, Yusuf lamented that there were a lot of misrepresentation of facts concerning the oil spill capable of hitting up the polity.
“But for some wholly incomprehensible reasons, several forces have equally deployed their armaments to smear and damage not only the image of Aiteo, but its quite considerable efforts.
“From peddling specious information that the spill has led to losses in excess of two million barrels, some have alleged that over 500,000 barrels were spilled, while some have suggested figure of stupendous loss of some 200,000 daily.
“According to the Director General/Chief Executive Officer, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Idris Musa, who spoke last week on a national TV show, “It is absolutely wrong and preposterous for people to make false speculations over the oil spillage in Nembe communities of Bayelsa State.
“Credible information confirms that before its shut-down prior to 2015, the well produced about 700 barrels daily. In the light of this disclosure, it is simply incomprehensible that there can be any truth to the volumes being misleadingly bandied about,” the Arewa youth leader said.
Yusuf particularly took on the governor of Bayelsa state, Senator Douye Diri on his comments that the Nembe oil leak could be likened to the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb catastrophe and worse than the historic massive oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico, describing the governor’s comparisons as scandalous.
“Comparing the Nembe oil spill to the Hiroshima, is taking mischief to a dangerous level. Worse, it betrays crass ignorance. Clearly, it is scandalous to liken it to Hiroshima. Except one has a very bad motive.
“Not surprisingly, after putting out this narrative, these same hostile forces of divisiveness who apparently have an axe to grind with Nigeria’s biggest indigenous oil company started circulating old spill videos to fuel their plot and set the communities against the company.
“Even Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State who is not a petroleum engineer has demonstrated a disturbing disposition to his contributions to the public discussions by misguidedly alleging impossible scenarios.
“Yet he has manfully opined that the Nembe spill is worse than the Gulf of Mexico spill. From a person in authority of such elevation, this is extreme misinformation stemming from willful ignorance or dark motive,” he Further alleged.Â
Yusuf reasoned that if the governor had his people at heart, he would have felt the urgency to cut short his trip abroad to return to assess the situation for himself or play any role that he desired for more than 2 weeks.
The youth president opined that governor Diri sang a discordant tune with the Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva who earlier visited the spill point on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari, and commended the containment effort of Aiteo group after evaluating the spillage.
“What benefits could the governor possibly gain from a disaster that he should also be in the forefront of efforts aimed at genuine mitigation and stability? Granted it is within his legitimate rights to protect his citizens, but this must align with the scientific templates of managing spills as obtains elsewhere in the industry,” he added.
The Arewa youth group enjoined all patriotic Nigerians to join hands with the federal government and Aiteo to ensure timely and absolute containment of the spill as well as provide succour for the affected communities rather than making inciting comments.
About Author
