The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and community leaders in Oyigbo local government area of Rivers State are making frantic efforts to avert a crisis situation following an oil spill that occurred in Izuoma-Ndoki community in the area.
The spill, which occurred earlier in the week, caused the discharge of crude into the Imo River? destroying in the process aquatic lives as well as cash crops belonging to members of the community, who are pre-dominantly, farmers, palm-wine tappers and fishermen.
To this end, a team comprising staff of SPDC, members of Oyigbo Cluster Development Board (OCDB), members of Izuoma-Ndoki Community Development Committee and heads of security agencies in the area visited the site of the oil spill.
Speaking at the site , chairman of OCDB, Dr. Chihoor Nwaogu said that the visit of the team was to ascertain the level of the damages caused by the disaster as well as advise the youths of the affected community on the need not to resort to violence over the issue.
“When something like this happens, there are some layers of investigations. What we are doing now is peripheral investigation to know what actually happened. Another layer of investigation will involve the NNPC, SPDC and the host community. Experts will come and take the samples, analyse it as well as establish the real cause of the spill.
“We have come to assess at this level what has happened, records would be taken. Later, experts will come to do proper investigation to ascertain what happened. I want everybody to behave in such a way that we will not cause any fracas, or disharmony among stakeholders,” Nwaogu said.
In her remarks, the community relations officer in SPDC, Miss Chidiebere Ogbu said that the decision of the oil giant to visit the spill site was in line with its social responsibility policy towards its host communities.
Ogbu disclosed that the firm will not take 100 percent responsibility for the oil spill until all investigations into the cause of the incident have been carried out.
She said; “this is the first step of our investigation into the cause of the spill. The truth of the matter is that we cannot really take up 100 percent responsibility of the spill right now.”