•It’s serious, 216 communities affected — Gov Oborevwori •Orders Health Commissioner to deliver medicare •Says Heritage Energy must keep to October deadline
By Jimitota Onoyume, Assistant News Editor
Has an end finally come for the nearly nine-month crude oil spill in Odidi community, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State?
That is the question on the lips of many residents and natives of the area following Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s charge to Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited, HEOSL, to ensure that the company keeps its promise to redress the devastating situation this October.
General Manager, Operations Integrity, HEOSL, Nelson Wilbert, had assured that the company was committed to bringing the spill to an end, saying it would work with relevant stakeholders to achieve this. Wilbert spoke when Governor Oborevwori visited the community for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.
What the governor said he saw during the visit while addressing the community appeared far worse than the information he had earlier. After touring the affected areas, Oborevwori expressed shock at the magnitude of the pollution and the economic devastation it had caused.
He said he had initially been briefed that about 86 communities were affected, only to discover that the pollution had spread to as many as 216 communities along the coastal lines.
“We have come here to see and not just to get report in the office. The thing is spreading. When it started, it was 89 communities. Today from your record, you said 216 communities. We believe there are small small villages that are affected and not captured,“ the governor said.
Deeply moved by compassion, he immediately directed his Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaemo to provide urgent medicare for residents of the affected communities, stressing that the intervention of his administration would go beyond the distribution of relief materials, given the severity of the situation.
“We have to take this matter seriously. Once you see what is happening, you realise that it is a very big issue. We don’t want our people dying at this time. We cannot afford to lose our focus or waste time. We have to act quickly and decisively,” he said.
The governor also directed Heritage to provide medical support services in the affected areas, insisting that residents should be medically examined to determine the possible health implications of prolonged exposure to the pollution.
He ordered the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Onojaemo to immediately deploy and coordinate medical teams to the affected communities and ensure that necessary medications are made available.
Oborevwori further warned that the state government would not sleep over the matter until the company fulfilled its promise to redress the problem this month, instructing his Commissioner for Environment, Hon. Moses Ogodo, to keep his eyes on development in the area .
He also called for genuine dialogue between the company and the host communities to resolve the crisis and prevent further tension.
For the governor, the crisis goes beyond compensation. It is about restoring the environment, protecting lives and rescuing the livelihoods of people whose economic activities depend largely on the waters.
The spill, which according to community folks started in February from the Trans-Forcados Trunkline, has brought economic activities in Odidi and surrounding communities to a near standstill. Long before the governor’s visit, residents who spoke with Vanguard described the situation as a prolonged nightmare, saying their lives had been turned upside down by the heavily polluted waters.
Aquatic life, they said, had been severely affected, while farms had also not been spared. Fishermen, women who trade in fishes and other seafood, and others whose livelihoods depend on the waterways said they had been left with little or nothing to do.
“The spill has forced us to remain at home in the last nine months. No river to fish or even periwinkle to pick,” Agnes and others told Vanguard. Residents also alleged that a sexagenarian died few months ago after slipping and hitting her head on hard ground while attempting to walk across a surface stained with the crude oil.
“We don’t know what we can call this. Our people are dying; we can’t breathe. Recently, we lost one of our aunties. She fell and couldn’t breathe again because of the pollution. We need the federal, state and local governments to come to our aid,” a woman in the area said.
“Life has not been the same in the community in the last nine months,” a woman identified as Timi said.
Timi said she eventually relocated to Warri in search of something to do after waiting endlessly for the situation to be resolved.
Amid the prolonged crisis, residents have also raised concerns over alleged oil theft around the affected oil facilities.
Some community members alleged that oil thieves may have taken advantage of the situation to siphon crude, although they admitted that they could not confirm the allegation or identify those allegedly involved.
One resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that boats sometimes come to the area to evacuate crude under the guise of protecting the environment.
“They come there with boats to remove crude oil; where do they take the crude to?” he asked as he gazed into the air as though the answer was visibly there.
The allegation, whether eventually established or not, has added another layer of concern to an already troubling situation and heightened calls for greater transparency around activities at the affected facilities.
For the people of Odidi and the other affected communities, however, the immediate concern is simple: they want the oil to stop flowing and their lives to begin again.
They say Heritage’s promise to end the spill will only become something to celebrate when the pollution is actually stopped, the affected environment is properly remediated and efforts are made to restore the aquatic life on which thousands depend.
Now, with October fast coming to an end and the governor demanding action, the question is no longer merely when the promise will be fulfilled. Will October finally bring an end to Odidi’s agonising oil-spill nightmare, or will the month slide away with the promise being yet another chapter in a crisis that has already lasted almost nine months?
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