Environment watchdog, the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), has called the attention of the National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency (NOSDRA) and Shell to a crude oil spill from a Shell pipeline along Obololi Creek in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The current oil spill reportedly occurred on the night of Sunday, February 16, breaking Monday, February 17, 2025. It is said to be the very first spill happening on the community river or Creek, the people’s only source of water for everything.
Obololi community is where pipelines belonging to Oando and Shell traversed. Shell, according to community folks, laid this pipeline since 1973 and has not replaced it since then.
“The people urgently need drinking water. Shell should immediately mobilise for JIV and follow up with cleanup, remediation and compensation,” said the group.
Meanwhile, following EDEN’s advocacy efforts, the Deputy Executive Director of the group, Alalgoa Morris, will be leading the Southern Ijaw Local Government Chairman and the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Environment to visit the impacted area on Thursday, February 20, 2025.