Panic as result of the NNPCL oil well gas leak increases tension in the Bayelsa community

The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has an oil well in Okpoama Kingdom, Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. The leak has caused a surge in panic.

Oil and gas have been leaking into the environment due to a leak that happened along the Bendick-Kiri axis of the Kingdom.

The oil well at OML 66, which is listed as “Kurogbagba 1” in the records, has reportedly been leaking for the last five days, discharging petrol and oil into the creeks, according to local reports.

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Fishermen have been forced to evacuate their communities for fear of a fire spreading due to a menacing hissing sound that could be heard over a kilometre away, caused by the extreme pressure pushing gas and oil out of the wellhead.

Monday Okon, the leader of the Bendick Kiri fishermen and a native of Akwa Ibom State, verified that everyone had gone due to the gas and oil odour and the possibility of a fire breaking out.

“Because we are so close to the oil well, we are terrified the place might catch fire. Fish that we capture cannot be dried. I’m here because the locals asked me to stay close by and let them know when visitors arrive,” he stated.

According to Okon, the leak has happened three times, but it has never been this bad.

The 53-year-old abandoned oil well leaked in May of this year and was eventually confined before blowing out again on October 20, 2023.

Speaking at the event on Monday, October 23, 2023, Comrade Tarinyo Akono, a former chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, described the well blow out as intense and exceedingly damaging for both the environment and humans.

There was a blow out in May of this year, and I was there. I was present when this tragic event occurred. The people’s means of subsistence have been reduced. There are more than fifty of these wells, so I have urged the NPDC to take action,” he stated.