An oil spill has occurred, ravaging Ikata community in the Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State.
It was learnt that the spill occurred in the early hours of Monday, May 5, 2025, on a 14-inch pipeline operated by the Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited (RAEC), which recently acquired the assets of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) confirmed the spill in a statement in Port Harcourt on Tuesday
The statement signed by its Executive Director, Fyneface Fyneface, said members of centre as well as those under the auspices of its crude oil spill alert system in the area reported the spill.
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He said: “The spill point, suspected to be tortious (third-party) interference, is seriously spilling crude oil into the environment and destroying the ecosystem in the surrounding area.
“A visit by our volunteers in the area to the spill site this morning showed that the vandals allegedly excavated the ground and vandalised the 14-inch pipe along the Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline right of way, which is currently spewing crude oil into the environment.”
He said the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) needs to carry out a joint investigation visit to the spill site with a view of determining the actual cause of the spill and invoke the relevant section of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, to hold the alleged perpetrators to account.
At the time of filing this report, NOSDRA had yet to confirm the spill or initiate containment measures.