Although it occurred on April 4, 2011, the news of gas eruption in Egi Clan in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area of Rivers State filtered into town on April 12, 2012, more than one week after the ugly incident. The gas eruption, which affected four communities, namely, Ogbogu, Egita, Obiyebe and Obite, was as a result of drilling operations of an oil and gas firm, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (TEPNG). The leakage became public knowledge when the president of Egi Peoples Assembly (EPA), Mr. Oris Onyiri, addressed a press conference in Port Harcourt and raised the alarm over the impact of the gas eruption on their communities.
?Onyiri said: “Ogbogu, Egita, Obiyebe and Obite communities were seriously affected by the eruption. The gas eruption has devastated farmlands, forests, wetlands and other vital economic and environmental resources of the communities in the area.
“There is palpable fear of contamination of the air and underground water in the affected area. This has thrown the entire Egi communities into trauma, fear and anxiety. There is also a threat to the biodiversity of the area on which the livelihood of the communities depends.”
?Few days ago, women of Egita, one of the affected communities, threatened to commence a one week hunger strike, if nothing was done to stop the gas emission in the area. The women said their action was to draw the attention of the oil company to the plight of the people, urging it to properly begin a coordinated approach for compensation and supply of relief materials.
According to Mrs. Mercy Igbekwe, the women leader of the community, who described Egita as the area most devastated by the gas emission and flayed alleged moves by the TEPNG to relocate its oil well to other neighbouring communities and abandon the affected areas.
?She said; “We are protesting because the TEPNG has diverted their attention to Okpogo, Akabula and Obiebi community and abandoned the Egita community, which is the major area the devastation occurred.
“There are about 16 affected families in Egita community. They told us not to go to farm any more, the drinking water and the air we breathe are badly polluted, strange ailment has started ravaging the community and sudden deaths are now prevalent. But instead of assisting us, they are planning to begin oil production in other communities”.
Worried by this ugly development, the Rivers State House of Assembly team visited the area recently to see things for themselves and liaise with relevant authorities on the matter. The assembly had earlier mandated its committee on environment headed by Hon Victor Nyeche representing Port Harcourt Constituency I to visit the area with a view to taking necessary steps to ameliorate the plight of the victims of the gas leak. The resolution of the legislators to visit the area was occasioned by a motion moved by Hon. Gift Nwokocha, representing Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni I Constituency, calling the attention of the assembly on the devastation occasioned by the leak.
Apparently to stop causing further damage to the environment, the management of Total immediately shut down the site popularly called ‘Obite Gas Plant’ and went further to set up a safety perimeter for the site. According to Mr. Charles Ebereonwu, manager, external communications of the company, tests on water wells and air quality in the area had been done. Ebereonwu said that a technical incident occurred at the site, which was in an uninhabited area near the onshore Obite gas production facilities on the oil mining lease 58 in the state, adding that as a preventive measure, domestic water wells are being analysed and air quality controls are conducted across the area on a daily basis.
He stated that except for a specific well that has been fully secured, the analyses did not reveal any presence of hydrocarbons or toxic component, saying that equipment has been installed to recover the gas above ground to limit its subsurface flow.
He added that said that a drilling rig is being brought in to drill a relief well and a second rig has been ordered and no significant evolution of the phenomenon has been observed. However, he said a safety perimeter is maintained and that communities are actively involved in the surveillance of the affected area
Emphasizing that the surface water flows are being monitored daily by aerial and pedestrian surveys, the Total spokesman said that the company’s CEO, Mr. Christophede Margerie, had met with the leaders and representatives of the Egi community in Port Harcourt on April 17 to express the company’s regrets on the incident.
He stated that Margerie expressed the commitment of the oil company towards addressing the OML 58 situation in full cooperation and transparency, adding that Total E&P teams in Nigeria have continued to maintain regular contact with the nearby communities on containment measures, which he said had already been deployed and that the teams were working with the communities, government agencies and regulators to address the situation.
?Observers said that it is the expectation of all and sundry that the management of the oil firm would live up to its promise so as to ensure that not much damages were done to the Egi environment, taking into cognisance the fact that the people of the affected communities are mostly farmers.