December 26, (THEWILL) – Concerned groups, including environmental rights groups and ethnic youth leaders have commended an indigenous oil giant, AITEO, over fresh evidence absolving it from any faults in the recent oil spill from a non-producing well head in its Santa Barbara South field, in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), operator of the NNPC/Aìteo Joint Venture on OML 29, had in a statement issued on November 9, 2021, reported the spill.
Amid controversy over the incident raised by the Bayelsa State Government and others which attributed the spill to negligence by Aiteo, a joint investigation was instituted to find the cause of the spill.
However, in its report, the investigation absolved Aiteo of any fault and attributed the spill to human sabotage.
Commending Aiteo and the joint investigation findings, the groups which included Friends of the Environment, Nigerian Ethnic Youth Leaders Council (NEYLC), the Niger Delta Youth Movement (NDYM) and the African Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR), made their positions known in separate reactions to the findings in statements made available to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday
They described the report that human sabotage caused the spill as truth based on science and facts that must be applauded by all stakeholders.
The groups called on the authorities to use a report of the findings to track down the culprits behind the sabotage to avert future occurrences.
Applauding AITEO which they say had been vindicated by the findings, the groups said they entertained no fear from the beginning that being a socially responsible company, the spill could not have been caused by AITEO’s negligence.
They added that the report which absolved the company of any fault or wrongdoing has further confirmed the saying that if lies travel for 20 years, the truth will catch up with it in one day.
“This is a vindication for AITEO. Findings have shown that the spill, as we have been suspecting from the beginning, was an act of sabotage by enemies of the Federal Government and a plot to undermine President Buhari’s Niger Delta agenda”, the NEYLC, which is made up of the Arewa Consultative Youth Movement, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Movement, Oduduwa Youths and Middle Belt Youths said in a statement signed by the Acting Head of the coalition’s secretariat, Nduka Edede Chinomso.
On its part, the Niger Delta Youth Movement (NDYM) regretted that while experts in the industry, with their science-based evidence, believe the spill was sabotage, the Bayelsa State Government’s agents were using emotion to look for scapegoats.
“What the findings have shown us is that the Bayelsa State Government had since been playing on the emotion of the people of the area and indeed all stakeholders.
“With this evidence and science-based findings, we hope that the state government will be humble enough to make a public apology based on the wrong position it earlier took on the matter”, the group added.
Also, rights group, Friends of the Environment, in a separate statement, said the issue of the six persons who were arrested at the scene at about 2.30am when the spill happened should not be overlooked by the state government.
It said in a statement, “Six persons were said to have been arrested at the scene at an ungodly hour of about 2.30 am. This revelation is very key and should not be overlooked by the state government and all others concerned.”
The Arewa Consultative Youth Movement (ACYM), in a separate statement, said the findings have left no one in doubt concerning the cause of the spill.
“Even the man from the Ministry of Environment who said he had reservations was convinced when an expert addressed his fears”, ACYM said in a statement.
On its part, the African Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR), in a statement by its coordinator, Nduka-Edede Chinomso, also said the findings have been proven to be the handiwork of saboteurs and enemies of President Buhari’ efforts to drive revenue while preserving the environment
“Evidence from the joint investigation panel confirms earlier information that the spill was an act of national sabotage by enemies of the Buhari regime to sabotage the Federal Government’s revenue drive, destabilise the Niger Delta region and undermine the President’s ongoing peacebuilding efforts in that region”, it said.
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