*Oil spillage

By Perez Brisibe

AN environmental and right activist, Franklin Magada, has described as false, claims by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, that there are no spills from any of its facilities at the Otumara area of Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.

Locals from some Ijaw and Itsekiri communities, including Yokiri and Ugborodo, had accused the oil giant of allegedly opening its waste valve into the Escravos river which polluted  the water surrounding the affected communities.

SPDC while rebuffing the allegation in a statement  though acknowledged an on-going remediation activity on the right of way of its 24” Escravos-Yokiri pipeline, noting “the activity is contained within the right of way and does not require the opening of valves.”

Accusing the company of being economical with the truth, the environmental activist said the pollution in the area was as a result of the “unsafe acts” owing to the exploration activities of the company.

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He also accused the Delta State government of failing to leave up to its expectation of protecting the lives of locals in the affected communities.

He said: “I and my team visited the affected communities in February for a site impact assessment upon which we collected samples for environmental pollution analysis and repeated same a month after to further ascertain the impact of the pollution. From the result of our laboratory analysis, the pollution in the area is pointing to heavy metal released into the water owing to oil exploration.

“Unfortunately, the state government through the Ministries of Oil and Gas and Environment has shown a high level of incompetence, which has led to the pollution of riverine communities by feigning ignorance without recourse to the environment.”

Vanguard