Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
The Bayelsa State Oil & Environmental Commission (BSOEC) has submitted a report seeking an end to environmental pollution and unfriendly oil exploration practices in the state.
The pollution was said to be facilitated by the activities of oil companies domiciled in the state, and which have been doing business in the area for the past 60 years.
The report signed by the BSOEC Chairman, Hon. Lord John Sentamu, and submitted to the Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, recently, called for an end to hydrocarbon pollution, destruction of human lives and natural environment.
The 216-page report sought the Government and the international community to stop decade-long cycles of contamination and neglect by the oil and gas industries and to ensure safer and cleaner oil company operations in the area.
The BSOEC document entitled, “An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria,” was the product of four years of tireless work put in by researchers, scientists and professionals in different fields, who went round Bayelsa communities gathering samples.
Recall that the commission was established in March 2019 by the immediate past administration of Governor Seriake Dickson to look into the years of oil and gas pollution in different communities in the state.
To address the damage done and prevent the threat of further damage in the future, the documents said that the state required $12 billion to repair, remediate and restore the environmental and public health damage caused by oil and gas exploration over the years.
The report submitted in part: “The commission’s findings shine a light on the pollution catastrophe engulfing the state and its underlying causes. Chief among them is the systemic failings of international oil company operators with the complicity of Nigeria’s political class and a dysfunctional Nigerian regulatory state.
“The report sets out a proposal to end decades-long cycles of contamination and neglect by the oil and gas industry.”
Meanwhile, Governor Diri, in his response on his official Twitter handle, pledged that his administration would act on the recommendations and seek partners to ensure that the report was implemented.
He said: “I have just received the final report on the monumental environmental genocide perpetrated by oil companies operating in our State as put together by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC).
“Let me salute the vision of my immediate past predecessor, H.E. Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, who established the Commission to undertake this great task of establishing the extent of environmental damage to enable the government and the people to seek justice in the form of remediation and compensation.
“Our people have suffered untold hardship and unjustly exposed to health hazards from the damaged ecosystem since 1956 when commercial oil production commenced in Otuabagi in the Oloibiri district of my State.
“The recommendations from this report will seek to end unfriendly oil exploration practices, cause full-scale remediation of polluted areas and ensure adequate compensation to affected people and communities across the State.
“I wish to appreciate all members of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) under the leadership of The Rt. Revd. and the Rt. Hon. Lord John Sentamu, Chair of BSOEC, for their dedication and sacrifices in the course of this huge task.
“My Government will seek all available options to ensure genuine and speedy implementation of the report.”
