Residents of Polobubou (Tsekelewu) town in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State have called on the various oil companies operating in their community to urgently tackle the environmental degradation, their activities have caused in their land.
Making the call recently at Polobubou as part of activities marking the World Environment Day, Elder Anthony Tiemo, Chairman Health and Environment Committee, Polobubou noted that the pollution wrought by oil companies had destroyed their lands, waterways and impoverished the people. “Polobubou, originally a fresh water environment with fresh water ecosystems, has been replaced by salt water environment due to the exploration and exploitation of crude oil by companies operating in Polobubou and sister communities,” he stated.
To reverse the situation to save the community from extinction, he enjoined the various oil companies such as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria Petroleum Development Company/ElCrest Nigeria Ltd JV, Conoil Producing Nigeria Ltd, Sahara Energy Services Ltd, the Federal and Delta State Governments and other interventionist agencies to immediately embark on a cleaning, remediation and reparation of the destroyed environment. He added this would involve land reclamation, shoreline protection, canalization and dredging of Opuama-Tsekelewu creeks, afforestation programs, flora and fauna regeneration policies among others.
In order to observe the damage first hand that oil exploration had brought on the community, Tiemo further called on the ministries of Environment at the state and Federal levels to make special visits and investigations to Polobubou community ‘to see things for themselves.’
“We want to draw the world’s attention to the human and environmental crisis facing our homeland, Polobubou. Our freshwater has been polluted and we don’t have water to drink anymore. We buy water from Sapele and other places to drink,” he stated.
To reduce the hardships faced by the people of Polobubou, he urged the government and the IOCs operating in Polobubou to as a matter of urgency, embark on sustainable development projects such as internal road networks, housing units, provision of potable water, electricity, medical facilities and services among others. “In the interim, NPDC/ElCrest JV and Conoil should provide free routine medical outreach services to Polobubou communities before end of 2023. Long term solution is the provision of a standard health facility well equipped with staff for our community,” he said.
He further called for zero natural gas flare or vent into the Polobubou environment to prevent pollution and health problems to the residents of the community. As he stated: “We want the oil companies to stop gas flaring as it causes pollution to our environment. They should execute environmental remediation and relief to Polobubou community as per the 2021 Nigeria Petroleum Industry Act, section 104 (4) by oil ad gas companies in Polobubou.”
turned saline like Savannah grassland. Photo credit: Ibiba DonPedro, 2002
To tackle the high unemployment rate in the community, Tiemo demanded for the institution of a hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation project that will collaborate with Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Delta State Government, Amnesty Office of the Presidency, DESOPADEC and oil companies operating within the community to develop a robust empowerment programs for the youths and women in the community.
Also speaking at the occasion, Dr Bright Abulu, President-General, Polobubou Development Association drew the attention of Delta State government to the issue of land encroachment from some communities in neighbouring Ondo State. He explained that most of Ilaje communities in Ondo State were victims of ferocious coastal/sea encroachment which erode their settlements and pushes them upland to the Polobubou geographical environment at the Delta State boundary. “Consequently, we find that for the past many decades, Ilaje communities have shifted kilometres away from their original land area into our territory, Polobubou community and this is a perennial occurrence,” he said.
He noted that there was a need for the state government to intervene because as he put it: “there is a serious encroachment on the Delta state territory.” He enjoined the newly crowned king of Egbema kingdom, Amb. Meshack E.A Ubabiri, Bini Pere 1V, Agadagba of Egbema kingdom to protect his geographical territory by taking up the matter with the Delta State government. “We want intervention in the matter because international oil companies are taking advantage of the encroachment of the Ilajes into Polobubou territory to push the oil and gas fields and locations in the Delta region to Ondo state. This will also affect the operational activities of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT) in terms of the implementation of the 2021 Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). This is equally likely to adversely affect the operations of the PIA in the area,” Abulu noted.
