Stakeholders led by the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) have visited Foropa, a fishing settlement along the Atlantic coastline in Bayelsa State in Nigeria, to assess the impact mystery spill reported on January 3, 2024.
Mystery spills refer to crude oil leaks from unknown sources where there are many oil firms operating near each other.
The visiting team include officials from NOSDRA Yenagoa field office, Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment and Bayelsa State Ministry of Mineral Resources.
Others are representatives of Foropa Community and all the operators operating within the spill impacted areas.
A notification letter signed by Pastor Olabai Olozulu, traditional ruler of Foropa, Middleton, on Jan. 8, indicated that the oil leak at the coastline was noticed on Jan. 3.
Mr Darius Sese, Chairman of Community Development Committee (CDC) in Foropa who spoke in a telephone chat, said the Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) involved representatives from all the oil firms operating in the area.
He said that the traditional ruler of the area, Olozulu, led the JIV team to the spill impacted areas.
He listed the operators to include First E & P, Conoil Exploration, NEPL, Shell and Nigdel United Oil Company.
He explained that the joint team took samples, which would be taken to the reference laboratory in Port Harcourt in Rivers State to determine the source.
He lamented that the incident had adversely impacted fishing in the area.
He said that fishermen no longer made catch since the spill occurred as fishes had migrated deeper into the Atlantic waters away from the coastline.
By Nathan Nwakamma
