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OML 29: Governor Diri expresses disappointment in continuous oil spill

Yenagoa—Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has lamented the continuous oil spill in Santa Barbara river, in Nembe Local Government Area which has lasted for over a month.

Speaking with newsmen in Yenagoa when he received a report from a team of government officials and journalists who visited the area on Tuesday, Diri expressed OML 29: Gov. Diri expresses disappointment in continuous oil spill

Diri stated that the well-being and livelihood of the people around the area have been heavily affected.

He cautioned against the politicization of the spill, adding that all hands must be on deck to put a stop to the spill and check future occurrence.

The governor also assured that beyond the call for sanctions, his administration will immediately identify experts in relevant fields to evaluate and advise government on the appropriate steps to take.

He further called on AITEO to stop the spill with immediate effect to save the environment and lives and commence remediation exercise which he said should go beyond Nembe given the spread of the oil spill.

According to Diri: “Beyond the call for sanctions, what my administration is going to do is, first of all, to identify experts on this, we don’t want to work in some assumptions, we want to work on facts, so, we are trying to gather experts, environmental experts, oil pollution experts, legal experts to assess, evaluate and then advise government on the appropriate steps to take.

“First and foremost, we want this unabated gushing of Crude Oil and Gas to the environment stopped.

“It has been on for over a month, so the very first day I visited there, and even before I visited there, we had made press statements and now, we are still continuing to call on the authorities which include the Oil Company itself, Aiteo that is responsible to that well of OML 29 and the Federal Government, to please save our environment and lives that will be lost as a result of this Spill. So, our call first, is for them to stop this Spill.”

He continued, “Following the stoppage is to ensure the environmental remediation and that may not be for only Nembe. In fact, for the whole of Bayelsa, there must be an action plan to ensure the whole environment is also part and parcel of the clean-up.

“There shall be a cleanup, just as the Ogoni clean up even though it is yet to commence,” Gov. Diri stated

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