Group calls for urgent action to end crude oil-induced fires in Rivers State

The Environmental Defenders Network, EDEN, has called for urgent intervention by the relevant authorities to stop the oil spill from a leaking wellhead and the resultant fire outbreak between Bukuma and Buguma in Asari Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. EDEN described the incident as an assault on the environment that has been allowed to persist for too long.

A statement by the Media Manager at EDEN, Elvira Jordan, said the call came after residents of the community sent a save-a-soul message to EDEN in the early hours of Monday, January 13, 2025, following a huge fire outbreak at the wellhead, which has been spilling crude oil since early January 2025.

The statement noted that a resident of the community, who spoke to EDEN anonymously, alleged that the fire started after an Air Force helicopter was seen shooting to scare off oil bunkerers around the wellhead.

The Executive Director of EDEN, Chima Williams, criticised the Rivers State Ministry of Environment, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, and oil regulatory agencies for failing to take necessary measures to protect the environment and the people from such a high-level environmental disaster. He insisted this amounted to gross negligence of human and environmental rights.

“It is unfortunate that for the people of the localities involved, the year 2025 has started on a bad note with the disruption of the environment that sustains their livelihood. In an ideal society where ministries and agencies of government are up and doing, an oil spill is not supposed to last for that long, talk more of a fire outbreak that could destroy human, aquatic, and wildlife in a very short period,” he said.

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Williams emphasised that, aside from the environmental and ecological damage, the people of the area have been exposed to several chemicals that could be detrimental to their health, considering how delicate the riverine terrain is.

He called on the Rivers State Ministry of Environment, NOSDRA, and other agencies to fulfil their responsibility of protecting the interest of the common people. He also urged the military to adopt more professional and environmentally friendly methods of tackling oil theft and bunkering.