POLOBUBO/OPUAMA SPILLAGE: COMMUNITIES CRY OUT TO PRESIDENT BUHARI FOR HELP ONE WEEK AFTER SPILL
.. Lament Non-Response from Facility Operators NPDC/ELCREST
….Hunger, Ill-health Ravages
The Polobubo (Tsekelewu) Community has cried out to President Buhari for help over the devastating effects of the March 14, 2021 spillage at their community.
President of the Polobubo Bloc of Communities, Mr. Paul Toruwei in a press statement dated March 22 made available to National Point decried the nonchalant attitude of the management of the NPDC/ELCREST, owners of the OML 40 facility where the spillage occurred and the Delta State and Federal governments.
According Paul Toruwei, “One week after the spillage, there is no relief in the form of food, drugs, clean-up of the environment or whatsoever”
He said the people have been abandoned to their fate as the oil company and government don’t care about them but are only interested in how they would resume oil exploration from the facility without concern for the immediate needs of the community.
Already, the NPDC/ELCREST has been sending their officials like divers to work to at the spill site without consulting or the approval of the affected communities’ members. Even the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) that was done was according to the release, controversial as parties are yet to agree on the cause of the spillage.
The Polobubo Bloc of Communities president called on NPDC/ELCREST joint venture to consider the plight of the people of their host communities who are bearing the adverse effect of the spillage from their facility rather than the desperation to start operations.
The community bloc leader stated that some persons are still sick while majority of the people are without any source of livelihood following the spill. The community leader called on President Buhari and the minister of state for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Slyva to prevail on NPDC to do the needful by providing relief materials to the affected communities to reduce the adverse effects of the spillage.
He also appealed to the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio to use his known proactive nature to help the devastated communities feel they belong by ensuring the Niger Delta Development commission threats their plight as a hazard of hosting the oil that feeds the country.
