‘You Mess Up Our Rivers And Appease Us With Indomie’ — Niger Delta Residents Knock Aiteo Over Bayelsa Oil Spill

The oil spillage caused by the AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited in Bayelsa State has continued to generate angry reactions from residents of the area and other Nigerians.

The oil spill, which recently began in Nembe Local Government Area of the state, is emanating from OML 29 Well 1 platform which is operated by Aiteo.

Aiteo was accused of persistently spilling crude into the Santa Barbara River for more than one month, resulting in backlash against the country’s largest indigenous oil firm.

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, who recently visited the site of the spill, had expressed shock at the extent of crude that had been spilled into the river.

THE WHISTLER reports that ‘#SaveBayelsa” trended at number two spot on Twitter as angry residents and other Nigerians took to the microblogging platform to condemn Aiteo for the spill.

“You mess up our rivers and share indomie to appease us #Savebayelsa,” said twitter @TheBriDen, who also criticized the government for failing to stop oil companies from polluting their land.

“What’s going to happen in a few weeks is that AITEO will stop the spillage, share indomie cartons and bread to the villagers, then promise to do a cleanup which will never happen and everyone will move on.

“As I am tweeting, the spillage has not stopped, this damage will take years to clean up. The environmental impact on the Nembe ecosystem will be felt for generations. We are still waiting for Ogoni clean up, how long will we wait for Nembe to be cleaned up?” @TheBriDen queried.

Another twitter, @itorobong_, tweeted: “In Bayelsa, the only thing they know how to do best is fishing. Today, their own fishing route is endangered. I call on the Federal Government to immediately react and ensure that their fishing route is safe #Savebayelsa”

The user called for provision of relief materials for the people of Bayelsa “to ameliorate their plight”

Abu Agada (@TheoAbuAgada) warned that the volume of oil spilled into the Santa Barbara River “can have potentially devastating effects on surrounding ecosystems” if the relevant authorities and the world at large does not pay attention to what has happened.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday described as “unacceptable,” the oil spillage that resulted from exploration activities of Aiteo in Bayelsa.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said he was saddened by the occurrence which he said would cause “devastation of lives and ecosystems in that part of the country.”

He said, “But we are going to insist, whether it is an indigenous owned company or an international one, that the companies must be responsible to the communities and to us as a nation.

“I believe that this particular case should be made to be an example of what government and its agencies can do, not only to force the alleged culprit to remedy the environment but also to penalize the oil company for devastating the lives of the people of that area (Nembe),” Lawan said.

Former Bayelsa State Governor and current Senator representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly, Seriake Dickson, called for compensation for the people over the damage done to their communities.