By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, S-South & Sam Oyadongha, who visited Koluama clan
On Tuesday, March 6, we published the first part of our visit to Koluama communities, which we said would be continued. We apologize for not continuing with the concluding part on Wednesday, March 7. The report ends today, March 8, with our findings at Temazau, Kaleweiama , Koluama I and other communities in Koluama clan, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa state.

There is also an interview with Chevron Nigeria Limited, in which the General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Engineer Femi Odumabo argued strongly that  the gas explosion does not pose any danger to the life of the people. Happy reading)

NO relief material was given to us – Temazau community

At Temazau community, one of the leaders, Chief Matthew Sylvanus said, “We have suffered enough; even the fish we eat because we have no food to eat is smelling gas. Our elders and children frequently stool after eating fish and Chevron did not send relief materials to us”.

“We don’t know why, our community is less than 10 kilometers from the platform where the gas blow out occurred , our people have communicated Chevron,  but no response, we are going to brief a lawyer to take up our matter we them. We still go out to fish and we eat the fish because we have no option, is it not once that man will die, we know it is poisonous but what do we do”, he said.

Billowing fire at the Chevron fire facility after the gas explosion.

On health, he said, “Forget it, we don’t have hospital, there is no health centre in Temazau, we go to Koluama cottage hospital and even there, there is no doctor, there are no drugs. About two persons have died in our community because of the gas explosion”.

Life in Temazau

“We don’t have electricity, we buy things from Yenagoa and Port-Harcourt, we use our torch light and lamp here, and those who can afford generator buy and use it. Though, we are a small community of about 5,000 under Koluama clan. The gas is affecting our livelihood.

“We are calling on Chevron to send relief materials to us, send medical doctors to attend to us and pay compensation to the various communities, groups and persons that were affected by the gas explosion. The fire is still burning”, he said.

Chief Sylvanus said that Temazau community used to be a satellite town but was severely affected by an Ocean surge 1993. “The ground depressed because there was no shore protection. This community that you are seeing now, looking so wretched was bigger than Koluama I before, but this is what nature has done to us, we cannot run away from our fatherland”, he added.

Nobody has come to our aid since the explosion- Kaleweiama community

At Kaleweiama community, one of the elders, Mavel Sapere told Vanguard, “”The gas explosion affected us seriously. We are fishermen; we cannot get fish to eat because of the incident. We cried to the Oil Company and government but nobody has come to our rescue since then. There is no food supply to us, no medical team and we don’t know why they are treating us like an outcast”.

“Our community is a satellite community under Koluama and the Koluama Council had made a case for all the communities to both the company and government, but nothing has reached us. We don’t have electricity here at all, no government official has even being to this community, they stop at Koluama I.

“We want Chevron to come to our aid, give us medical care, send us relief materials and put off the fire”, he said. On death toll, he asserted, “We have not recorded any death here as a result of the gas fire but our people are sick”.

A youth leader in the community, Zolo Tari, said “The gas is affecting us, we cannot sleep well and we go to toilet frequently. We eat the fish to survive even though we know it is toxic to our health.

“Our community used to be a very big town but it was an explosion, some years back, by Shell during oil seismic operation that affected us, that was what led to the split of Koluama clan and we had to relocate to where you see us today, so, the oil companies are our problem, they are harbingers of death in our life”.

Uninhabited Ebidouama community

Our reporters were shown a community identified as Ebidouama with scarcely few buildings that were affected by sea incursion, as we made a bypass from Kaleweiam to Koluama I, which we did not access on arrival in Koluama clan because of the heavy rainfall on that day. The people of Ebidouma were said to have been evacuated because of the Ocean surge. It was obvious it was lying desolate.

Evacuate us – Koluama I community

One of the major requests of Koluama I community, which, clearly is the closest community to Chevron in the area is that the people should be evacuated and resettled because of the inherent health hazards.

Vice chairman of Koluama I Council of Chiefs, Chief Ekuere-Goli said aquatic life in the town was completely gone, as you could not get fresh fish anywhere, while the health of the people was deteriorating.

He said a woman fainted in the community the day the deputy governor of the state visited and vomiting, stomach pain, irregular breathing and acute asthma were the common ailments in the community since the gas explosion.

Apostle Jonas Kwomo ,who  was among Koluama 2 natives that took Vanguard to the tip  of the Atlantic Ocean for a  close view of the blazing rig said, “Practically the entire community trooped to this very place we are standing January 16 to find out what was amidst because men, women and children were jolted from their sleep by the deafening explosion”.

Residents flee Koluama clan

The royal father, N.E Ogboin-Mienye, in an address presented to the governor of Bayelsa state, Chief Henry Dickson, when he visited them on February 18, “With this incident, the Ocean has been seriously polluted and the current is carrying the dangerous gases and chemicals into the rivers and creeks of the communities within the coastal areas where the incident occurred”.

“The aquatic/marine life has been adversely affected as well as dead fisher can be seen floating on the water in the ocean, shore, creeks and rivers of the coastal communities in this area. Dark coloured pollutants have been seen spreading on the surface of the ocean from the first day and have been impacting seriously on the people and the coastal shoreline”, the monarch asserted.

On the health challenges, he said, “The health implications are no doubt overwhelming; the gases released into the environment, such as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, etc , most of which are acidic gase have wide ranging forms of ailments, example, vomiting, stomach pains, difficulty in breathing, acute asthma, etc, resulting in a couple of deaths have been reported and people have been moving out of the communities for fear of the unknown”

“The members of the various communities in the area are worried because little or no assistance has come their way from Chevron or government to alleviate our suffering since the incident”, he stated.

As at February 18, he noted, “It is sad that as we speak, no Chevron or government official has visited Koluama II to assess the situation, the people are at great risk”. (Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Alison-Madueke visited shortly after while the President followed suit).

The fear of the community submerging as a result of the gas explosion , judging from the 1953 Shell D’ Archy experience is palpable in Koluama. Chiefs S.O Digienni and J.E. Eyawei conducted Vanguard round some houses in the town to see the impact of the explosion.

The ceiling panels in the house of the younger brother of Chief Digieneni, one Engineer Gitter Digineni, reportedly based in Yenagoa collapsed allegedly as a result of the explosion.

Affront on the people

According to him, “We, therefore, feel insulted by the claim of Chevron that the gases emitted from the blow out, which is still burning is not harmful to human health and the environment.

Immediate  evacuation

We really feel insulted by this claim because if these gases were not harmful, Chevron could not have immediately evacuated its personnel from its oil facilities around the accident (area). The above claim was not only inciting but was aimed at provoking the victims of this unfortunate incident from taking drastic actions against the company.

Besides the fear of extinction by ocean waves and seismic operations by oil companies, he said the Koluama communities are not happy with Chevron. In his words, “The relationship between Koluama II and Chevron has been a master –slave relationship. Chevron operates as the master and the community as a slave”.

“Chevron has not done any reasonable community development project in the above mentioned communities since it took over the Funiwa and North Apoi oil fields from Texaco”, he pointed out.

The royal father said the January 16 gas explosion was not the first time the people have suffered deliberate government neglect and deprivation from the government of Nigeria and oil  and gas companies operating in Koluama 2.

“It is very sad to mention that we suffered the same, if not worst fate, during the Funiwa (well 5) blow out on the 17th of January, 1980. The government and Texaco , which was operating the Funiwa oil field as at then, responded very late. The environment was seriously polluted and no remediation was done, the effect of which we are still suffering from till date”, he explained.

He further complained, “Chevron is also the operator of the Agbami oil field, which is about 52 nautical miles from the shore of Koluama and the people of Koluama II are not beneficiaries of the operations of the Agbami field, either by way of employment or capacity building opportunities.

Beneficiaries of operations

All recruitments in respect of the Agbami oil field are done n Lagos. The sole beneficiaries of the operations at the Agbami field are the people of Lagos state, yet the field is off the shores of Bayelsa state”.

His words, “Chevron has not employed any member of the above mentioned communities since the merger with Texaco. The last employment was done about 12 years ago and was done by Texaco. Instead, Chevron has decided to terminate the employment of three out of the eight employees from the mentioned communities”.

Vice chairman of the Community Development Committee, Koluama 2, Mr. Edi Famous corroborated the assertion of his royal father that Chevron has not given employment to youths of the community.

Threat to Brass LNG

He also said the people of Koluama 2 has been following the goings-on in the  oil and gas industry in the country with keen interest and were aware that the majority of the gas reserves or deposits that will feed the Brass LNG, due to take off soon, will be sourced from Koluama.

“We are, however, disappointed to discover that Chevron has concluded arrangements to lay pipelines from our shore to transport its gas to the Brass LNG off-shore. By this, Chevron does not want to build a gas plant in Koluama 2, where the raw material is found. We are ready and willing to provide and recommend land for Chevron before its inception as operators of Funiwa and North Apoi oil fields form Texaco for the above project. We reject this decision and will not allow a pipeline to be laid through our territory from the sea to Brass because our past experience”, he said.

Said the monarch, “Specifically, sometimes in 1978, Texaco, the predecessor of Chevron proposed to build a tank farm at Koluama 2. The people of Koluama freely allocated land to the company and it was surveyed accordingly. However, they abandoned this project after the 17th January of 1980 oil blow out at the Funiwa field (Funiwa well 5). The company subsequently opted to use the floating storage terminal, M.V Oloibiri, off the coast of Koluama 2”.

“Chevron is among oil and gas multinationals in the state who makes claims to be operating off-shore and is, therefore, depriving the Bayelsa state government revenues from their operations in the state, as these companies do not even have functional offices in the state. even though, Chevron claims to be operating off-shore, the adverse effects of its operations to the health and livelihood of the adjoining communities, particularly the principal landlord is very obvious to everyone as in the interest in the instant case”, he said.

The monarch declared, “We, therefore, insist that Chevron must build its gas plant in Koluama 2 where it has its principal gas reserves in the state for the Brass LNG project. We urge the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Bayelsa state government to prevail on Chevron to do so”.

Vanguard contacts Chevron on Koluama predicament

Indeed, as at February 22, more than a month after the gas explosion, Chevron had not extended medics to Koluama communities.

Vanguard contacted the oil company after our reporters visited Koluama and it responded on Wednesday, February 29, two days after President Jonathan’s visit to Koluama. It stated, “Chevron is in the process of coordinating medical support, as part of its Corporate Responsibility programme, for people in the KEFFES Rural Development Foundation. It is a Community Health Programme designed by New Nigerian Foundation (NNF) and funded by Chevron to provide health intervention in the area of Malaria, Tuberculosis and other diseases prevalent in the riverine area in the area”

The company’s General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, PGPA, Engr. Femi Odumabo, also reacted to the claim by the communities that their existence was under threat as a result of the gas explosion and alleged strange ailments. (The interview with him is part of the series in this report).

Chevron deploys medical personnel

Few days after, Vanguard confirmed that medical personnel had commenced treatment of indigenes only in the KEFFES host communities to the American oil giant.

The KEFFES host communities is an acronym for Koluama I & II, Ekeni, Fish Town, Foropa, Ezetu I &II and Sangana located on the Atlantic fringe of Southern Ijaw and Brass local government areas of Bayelsa State. (Tamazo, Kalaweiama and others, which complained to Vanguard they were excluded in the sharing of the few relief materials that were brought have cried out that they are excluded in this arrangement).

Vanguard reliably learnt that some drugs were donated, last Tuesday, by Chevron last Tuesday to the Bayelsa State Ministry of Health for onward delivery to the KEFFES communities. The drugs worth millions of naira and medical personnel from the Sate Ministry of Health and the company were ferried to the coastal communities, last Wednesday, and had since been attending to patients in the Chevron host communities.

The free medical treatment is being supervised by the Prof Femi Ajibola- led New Nigeria Foundation, a non -governmental organization with 10 years working experience in the Niger Delta.

Prof Ajibola told Vanguard that treatment was on. Dr Massa Ebimoghan, who led the Chevron delegation to the Ministry of Health in Yenagoa, thanked the communities and the Bayelsa State government for their support and collaboration.

He expressed the hope that the donated drugs would contribute in no small measure to addressing the short- term health needs of the people in the KEFFES communities.

He also explained that studies were being done to determine the long term health needs of the people, adding that the report from the studies would be used by Chevron in collaboration with the Bayelsa State government to address these needs.

While receiving the drugs on behalf of the Bayelsa State government, a director in the ministry, Dr. Frank Samayin, described the gesture as remarkable, stressing that the state ministry of health and the host communities affected by the Chevron gas explosion had been looking forward to the donation.  Dr Samayin also expressed the hope that Chevron would do more to improve the health and overall standard of living of the people.

In his remarks, the chairman of the KEFFES Regional Development Foundation, Mr. Christopher Tudor, expressed gratitude to Chevron and the state ministry of health for the donation, noting, however, that the drugs should have come earlier than now.

CNL employees who witnessed the donation were Dr Massa Ebimoghan of the company’s Port-Harcourt clinic were  Mr. Charles Egbuedo; Community Engagement Coordinator Eastern Operations;  Mr. Elijah Bikikoro; GMOU Lead KEFFES Regional Development Foundation; Mr. Celestine Amukamara; Environment Supervisor;  and Mr. Valentine Eyitene; Communications Representative Eastern Operations.