Going to Worikuma-Kiri, a Fishing settlement along the Santa Barbara River off Opu Nembe {Bassambiri} is no tea party as you are on speed boat for nearly an hour with lots of security checks.
Getting to the spill point, you hear the sound of the crude gushing out from the well head, you get the choking odour of crude in your nostrils and your eyes.
The soldiers kept asking us to conclude the job quickly and leave for our own safety because any little mistake could cause an explosion and massive fire.
The River was heavily polluted with thick yellow coloured slick from crude oil while the mangrove and other plants are shiny as a result of the sprays from the well head.
Large volumes of crude oil and gas are being discharged into the swamps, farmlands and the Santa Barbara River following a leak from an oil well in Oil Mining Licence 29 Southwest field in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The incident which happened on November One this year at the Creeks of Worikuma-kiri, off Opu-Nembe-Bassambiri has led to massive pollution of the river, waterways and communities in the Area.
The Operator of the NNPC /Aiteo Joint Venture of OML 29, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), says it has activated an extensive spillage containment response in addition to distributing relief materials to the affected communities.
It’s over three weeks now since the oil well blow-out at Worikuma-kiri, off Opu-Nembe-Bassambiri in Bayelsa State from a leak from an Oil Mining Licence 29 Southwest field occurred which experts say had been discharging an estimated 100,000 barrels of crude into the waters since November one this year.
A visit to the scene of the spill located in the Creeks which is about 35 minutes by speedboat from Opu Nembe indicate a loud sound from the failed Christmas Tree structure atop the ruptured wellhead with crude oil and gas effluents gushing with alarming speed, spraying the canopy of mangroves, crops, swamps and the Santa Barbara River with the pollutants.
Worse impacted are Worikuma-kiri, Arrrow-kiri, Adamata kiri, Sunny-kiri one and two, Sand Sand village and other fishing settlements and communities as dark and thick yellow substances suspected to be crude oil float along the River into the Atlantic Ocean, as aquatic and marine life are destroyed with dead fishes floating on water.
Landlord of Worikuma-kiri which hosts the well head from where the spill emanates, Chief, Worikuma Ivory- Degi elect, says the crude oil and gas discharge has destroyed his farm and land.
Vice President of Opu Nembe Youths, Mr. Degi Nimofa expressed worry that the spill will have adverse health consequences on the people.
Head of the Bayelsa Field Office of the Environmental Rights Action, Mr. Alagoa Morris maintains that apart from the health hazards from the spills, sources of livelihood had been lost, calling on the company to stop the spill urgently.
The second National Vice President of the Ijaw National Congress, Chief Nengi James asserts that the ecosystem had been altered as a result of the incident, calling on the government to declare it a National Disaster.
Some of the locals and fishermen in the impacted communities and fishing settlement said that the spill has brought untold hardship upon them.
In a reaction, Spokesman for the Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), Operator of the of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Mr. Ndiana Matthew says it is currently containing the spill and promptly called for a Joint Inspection Visit to ascertain the cause while distributing relief materials to the communities.
For now, experts say there is need to deploy sufficient oil spill containment and cleanup equipment and personnel to contain the spilled hydrocarbon polluting the Santa Barbara River, Swamps and lands in Nembe.
More communities along Nembe and other parts of Bayelsa State and others in the Kalabari axis in Rivers State may soon experience the spilled oil traveling through the Santa Barbara River.
