The Nigerian Senate has revealed that the November 5 oil well leak in Nembe, Bayelsa State, spilled over 2 million barrels of hydrocarbon into the environment.
This was disclosed in a Senate resolution on Tuesday overseen by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, according to Reuters.
This comes as Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company, owners of the oil well, had earlier denied reports of the spill amounting to over 2 million barrels.
What the Senate is saying
Bayelsa Senator, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo warned about the effects of the spill towards the aquatic and ecological environment, as the region has suffered many years of hydrocarbon leaks which has damaged its environment.
The Senate warned in its resolution that “Attempts to stop the continuous oil and gas spill by the operators had failed repeatedly for over one month running, wasting an estimated over 2 million barrels of hydrocarbon and gas,”
They added that Aiteo has shown a disappointing appearance of technical incompetence in handling the incident
Reacting further to the resolution, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan said, “I believe that this particular case should be made to be an example of what government and its agencies can do, not only to force the alleged culprit to remedy the environment but also to penalize the oil company for devastating the lives of the people of that area.”
In case you missed it
Recall Nairametrics reported last week that Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company, the company at the centre of the Nembe Oil spill in Nembe Community in Bayelsa State denied reports that 2 million barrels spilled from the oil well.
