An environmentalist, Chief Alagoa Morris, has said that the Feb. 16, 2025, oil leak from Shell’s pipeline in Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa State has raised the toxicity of Obololi River leading to death of fishes.
Morris said on Wednesday, March 5, in Yenagoa, the state capital, that the pollution caused by the leak was massive and affected the biodiversity in a negative way.
Morris, who is also the Technical Adviser to the Bayelsa Governor on Environment, said that a team he led on a field trip to the impacted areas showed empirical evidence of abnormal toxicity of the waters.
“I led a team to the spill site and witnessed oil industry induced pollution first hand and the evidence of pollution starred us in the face.
“We saw a lot of dead fishes, from the pungent smell of crude everywhere, the respiratory health of the community people are in jeopardy in addition to the water pollution,” Morris said.
Morris explained that the impact of the spill had adversely affected the predominantly fishing and farming occupation of the Obololi people.
The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) traced the source of the leak to a 16 inch Nun River-Kolo Creek underwater pipeline operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
It was learnt from Obololi community sources that recovery of spilled crude into plastic tanks was already ongoing.
Mr. Michael Adande, a Spokesman for SPDC, earlier said that the oil firm has shut oil feeds into the leaking pipeline.
Adande pledged to update on relief, remediation and response efforts but has yet to do so.
By Nathan Nwakamma