By Jimitota Onoyume

The Niger Delta Civil Society Forum, NDCSF, has called for an end to oil pollution in Odidi community, Warri south West local government area, Delta state.

Coordinator of NDCSF, Comrade Ezekiel Kagbala, in a statement said it was unfortunate that the oil firm operating in the area would allow the prolonged spill , stressing that Federal Government, National Assembly and regulatory authorities should wade into the issue to urgently address what he termed environmental crime against the community .

Comrade Kagbala, said the situation had gone beyond an ordinary oil-spill incident, insisting that urgent action was required to stop further discharge and protect the affected community.

He said the continued pollution of the community’s waterways had devastated fishing grounds and placed the livelihoods of residents at serious risk.

He also raised grave concerns over continued crude-oil operations around the affected infrastructure, arguing that allowing production or crude movement to continue while “oil is escaping into the environment amounts to an unacceptable environmental management failure “, he said.

“Stop the crude flow. The first responsibility in any oil-spill emergency is to stop the source, contain the pollution and protect the people and environment,” the Forum said.

“For communities whose survival depends on fishing, farming and the waterways, every additional day of crude discharge means another day of economic loss and ecological destruction.

“Residents have watched fishing grounds and waterways become contaminated while their traditional means of livelihood continue to suffer.

“The NDCSF therefore demand an immediate independent assessment of the affected environment to establish the full extent of contamination and determine the ecological and socio-economic impact of the spill.

“We also call for a comprehensive investigation into the condition and maintenance history of the affected infrastructure, including previous integrity assessments, repairs, operational decisions and the response to the spill.

“The Forum urges the National Assembly to summon the firm and relevant regulatory agencies to explain the circumstances surrounding the incident, the condition of the affected infrastructure and measures taken to stop the pollution and commence remediation.

“It specifically calls on the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, and other relevant authorities to move beyond official statements and ensure that immediate action is taken on the ground.

“The regulatory intervention must focus on stopping the source of pollution, containing the spread, cleaning the affected environment and restoring the livelihoods of residents “, the group said.