For three days, the fire burned uncontrollably sending thick black billows into the sky. The villagers watched as no fire fighting team came either from government or from Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited, SPDC owners of the pipeline, to quench the fire until the fire petered out by itself after leaving a line of damage to vegetation and farmlands on its path.
Security and surveillance personnel working along the pipeline told National Point that they noticed a leaking point on the pipeline at the Adanta end of the Ogbodo, Isiokpo section of the Trans Niger Pipeline taking crude oil from the hinterlands to Bonny terminal.
They said they promptly reported the spill to the military personnel, stationed just a few hundred metres away from the leaking point. The military personnel there mobilised to the spot and sealed off the area from the villagers and other people that were attracted to the site to scoop the crude oil.
The military personnel, according to National Point investigations, then informed their command base about the situation and kept up security around the spot. They however moved away from the area as night fell, supposedly to avert any unlikely development.
One of the surveillance men that spoke to this reporter, said crowds began to gather around the spot as the military personnel moved out. By then, the owners of the pipeline, Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited had not responded to stop or contain the spill.
While they were still waiting for the Shell team to arrive, one of the sources said, a fire was sparked where the leakage was spotted and immediately began to spread. As people moved out of the way of the fire, it spread.
The fire, which burned continuously for three days and three nights before it burned out, lapped up everything in sight over a distance of 300 metres up to the Isiokpo- Omagwa River, where the spilled crude oil flowed into.
Despite the presence of a military base less than half a kilometre away from the site of the incident, a surveillance team jointly set up by the oil company and the community just overlooking the site and a regular patrol of the pipelines by Tantita Security Services Limited, owned by Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo, the vandals were able to break open the pipeline in broad daylight setting off a huge leakage on the pipeline.
Fortunately, there was no human casualty or destruction of human settlements along the path of the fire. It only destroyed farmlands, forests and oil palm plantations as it raged like hellfire.
A security detail, who said he witnessed the fire, told National Point that the case of damaged pipeline was reported about midday on Wednesday, and they sent calls out immediately to security agencies and the oil companies concerned to alert them about the development.
He said the military personnel deployed in the area kept watch over the area but could do nothing to stop the flow of crude oil from the damaged spot.
A visit by this publication to the scene of the fire, showed a vast area of land including farms, forests and raffia plantation destroyed by the fire. A trail of the fire could be seen from where it sparked down to the river.
A native of Adanta, who gave her name as Mrs. Grace, and was returning from her farm, said the experience was horrible for the people. “We kept awake all those three days for fear that it could spread and enter the community. Thank God it ended. But these incidents have been affecting our farm yields,” she said.
Fortunately, as the fire burned uncontrollably the Northern Option Gas pipeline owned by Total E&P Nigeria Limited that was running parallel to the ruptured crude oil pipeline was not affected.
National Point was told by members of the surveillance team that a Joint Investigative Team made up of representatives of Shell, the National Oil Spill Detection and Rescue Agency (NOSDRA), security agencies, the Department of Petroleum Resources and the impacted communities had visited the site to investigate the incident. Michael Adande, SPDC Spokesperson in Port Harcourt who confirmed the incident said a multi-stakeholder joint investigation team was already working on the incident The team includes regulators like Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Rivers State Ministry of Environment and community representatives.
But the ruptured pipe had been sealed and buried. Remediation of the impacted areas had not been done. The Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government, Dr. Samuel Nwanosike, told National Point that the remediation would have to be done.
He noted however that no matter how much remediation is made, the several hectares of land that were impacted would not be restored to its former state. “If you go to that community, you will see clearly that nothing will be planted within the radius where that incident occurred in the next 30 years. Even when you do remediation, science says you cannot use that soil for the next 40 years.”
The council chairman disclosed that those behind pipeline vandalism and illegal oil bunkering in the area have been identified and several of them have been arrested.
He said, “This incident that happened is an unfortunate incident. But we as local government have taken drastic steps. For security reasons I would not want to mention names because there are ongoing investigations that the security agents in collaboration with the councils are working on. A lot of arrests have been made as pertaining those who are involved and they have also confessed to the crime before the security agents.
“As a council chairman, I did not sleep on my job. We went to work. With the help of the community people, it has yielded results. So, I want to use this opportunity to commend men of the Nigeria Police Force and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for the support they have given to us. Without them we cannot be able to achieve this.”
However Chinedu John, one of the leaders of Adanta community, said though Shell had not shown serious concern about the incident, the community might not ask for damages because the fault was not from the company. “We had started a move to meet Shell. But we found out that it is our boys,” he said.
