Two Delta Communities Threaten To Shut Down Opuama Flow Station Over Neglect, Issue Ultimatum To NEPL

By Daniel Dafe

The people of Opuama and Tsekelewu communities in Warri North local government area of Delta State have called on the National Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSTRA), and Delta State Ministry of Oil and Gas to compel NEPL to clean up the oil spill in their area before December 20, 2024 to prevent shut of Opuama flowstation in OML 40.

They gave a 14-day ultimatum to the former Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) now NEPL to clean up the oil spill.

The spill which occurred on October 28, 2023, has been left till date over one year after.

The affected communities, Opuama and Tsekelewu are one of the foremost producers of oil and gas in the State but are neglected by stakeholders with the natural resources drilled in the area.

A protest letter dated 27th April 2024, detailing the ultimatum and signed by leaders of both communities, lamented the neglect caused by the oil spillage on the people.

The letter endorsed by elder Yokori Zebulum, elder Dick Toru, elder Alex Adanse, elder Samuel Utor, Comrade Egbor Michael and Comrade Gabriel Lesiagho called for an urgent redress of the issue.

According to the said letter, “the former National Petroleum Development Company ( NPDC) now NEPL has refused to clean up the thousands of barrels of oil and gas spill that occurred on Oct 28, 2023 along the company major trunk pipeline near opuama flowstation in OML 40, Warri North LGA, Delta state.”

The letter continued: “The NEPL and Nostra representatives confirmed that during the joint investigation visit (JIV) that the spill was caused by the NEPL pipeline failure.

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“Several letters have been written by the leadership of Opuama and Tsekelewu Communities to make NEPL clean the oil and gas spills. The last letter was written on April 24, 2024. Despite these letters, NEPL has refused to clean up the oil spill for over one year. Currently, our people use the polluted water for cooking, drinking, and bathing. We eat the polluted fishes and plants around the failed pipeline in the opuama field in OML 40. The impact of the oil spill has inflicted illnesses related to oil and gas spills on thousands of people, fuara and fora, and has led to life expectancy reduced of our people.”

In a well spelt out three demands, the leaders said NEPL should swing into clean-up action, send medical aids to both communities and its environs and negotiate properly on the spillage with our oil and gas committees.

While acknowledging that some insufficient relief materials were sent, they said “we are giving you five working days ultimatum on item three to avert unnecessary action against your operation. “