• Ogoni indigenes express pain, abandonment over oil spill
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) recently erupted and triggered streams of crude oil flowing through B-Dere community, in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State. The incident happened on May 6, 2025, and the cause of the explosion was said to be equipment failure.
A similar explosion occurred in Bodo community on March 17, 2025, in the same LGA, which caused a massive fire that spread through the mangroves. Residents said the spills show very clearly the massive risks and danger the communities in Gokana and neighbouring LGAs in Ogoniland would be exposed, if the desire of the federal government to resume oil extraction in the area happens.
Many of the B-Dere community people have been internally displaced while those already impacted by the spill are living in fear for their health and safety.
On a visit by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) team, along with other civil society organizations (CSOs) to the spill site, distressed indigenes of the community expressed the high level of pain and a sense of exposure to life-threatening environment and abandonment. The woman leader of the community, Chief Mrs. Augustina Biebie, stated that the level of restlessness in the community has only worsened.
She said: “The spill brought crude oil into the houses of many of our people. The thick smell of crude oil has affected our health. Breathing has become a problem, and it has become difficult to even feed because some of us cannot light fire in our kitchens.”
Pastor Kpobari Bani, whose house was affected, stated that: “Since this incident started, I have not been able to cook for fear of explosion. My mother has been displaced and has moved to a neighbour’s house for fear of explosion.
“Shell said it has sold (the facility) to Renaissance Oil, who now owns the pipeline. So, we call on them to come and stop the spill.
“We also call on the government and other relevant authorities to come to our aid and bring remedy to the land.”
The executive director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, expressed disappointment over the level of neglect of communities.
He said: “We are in a disaster zone and further disasters can erupt from even an accidental spark of fire. The slow response of government and oil companies underscores the lack of care for the people and the environment. This level of laxity is absolutely unconscionable.
“The fact that this spill that happened a week ago is yet to be stopped sends a very strong point to why government should focus on cleaning up Ogoniland and not seek to open new oil wells. The old wells should be shut down, and decommissioned. Our communities must not continue to be sacrificed on the altar of petrodollars.”
Bassey further called on all authorities to move into action to curtail the spread of the flowing crude.
“The government cannot be silent at a time as this. This is a time when all agencies should be here to shut down the pipeline, stop the pollution and carry out urgent clean-up and remediation.
“We call on NOSDRA, NESRA, MENA and HYPREP to move into swift action to stem the unfolding ecological and human crises.
“HOMEF calls for a swift action to plug the leakage, remediate the land and carry out a thorough health audit on the exposed people of the community.
“Government must show that they care for the people and the environment. Aged oil facilities should be decommissioned and retired, and all alleged divestments should be nullified to ensure that those who have made our communities literal land mines do not walk away from accountability.”
Similarly, Celestine Akpobari, an environmental activist from Ogoni, said: “This is one of the reasons we have rejected the idea of restarting oil exploitation in Ogoni.
“The exploitation has not started but the situation is becoming more volatile with spills of this nature. This is supposed to be a remediation site. But, as you can see, it is an ecological crime scene.
“We are afraid that, if this is not properly contained, the damage will be far worse than what we see.”