OPU NEMBE KINGDOM IN BAYELSA STATE HIT BY NEW OIL SPILL AMIDST ONGOING ENVIRONMENTAL STRUGGLES

The Opu Nembe Kingdom in Bayelsa State is grappling with a fresh oil spill from an 8-inch delivery line operated by Nembe Eastern Exploration and Production Company Ltd, formerly known as Aiteo, barely weeks before the fourth anniversary of the devastating 2021 Santa Barbara oil blowout. The spill occurred on October 1, 2025, near the Santa Barbara well in OML 29, reigniting fears among residents still recovering from the impact of the 2021 disaster that lasted over a month.

In a letter to the company’s Health, Safety and Environment Manager, Augustine Amaka Bisong, the community’s legal representatives, Iniruo Wills and Dr. Dickson Omukoro of Ntephe Smith and Wills, accused the firm of poor crisis management and disregard for its host community. Aiteo informed the community of the spill only on October 5 — four days after the incident — requesting a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) for October 6, which the Opu Nembe leadership rejected, describing it as “a show of disrespect” and rescheduling it to October 9, 2025, for proper representation.

“Our clients deserve adequate notice to assemble a competent JIV team, some of whom travel from Lagos, Port Harcourt, or Yenagoa,” the letter read in part. “This ensures due diligence and prevents the manipulation of the JIV process, which has become a recurring problem.” The community demanded a thorough investigation into the spill, assessment of its environmental and health impact, and prompt remediation to protect residents reliant on fishing and farming.

“Beyond this spill, our clients demand a top-level engagement between the company, the community’s technical team, and regulators to establish a lasting framework that ends this continual environmental burden,” the letter added. Aiteo, which acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company’s OML 29 in 2015, has faced several spill-related controversies in Nembe.

The Opu Nembe Kingdom is pursuing a separate legal battle against the oil, with a case at the Federal High Court in Yenagoa (Suit No. FHC/YNG/CS/284/2024), seeking compensation and environmental justice over three major spills recorded between 2019 and 2020. In a recent correspondence dated October 7, 2025, Opu Nembe’s counsel expressed frustration over repeated adjournments allegedly sought by Aiteo’s lawyers. “Our clients, who depend on oil-polluted waters for daily survival, view these delays as unnecessary and insensitive,” the letter stated. “After five years of Aiteo evading liability, further adjournments only reinforce the impression of a defendant taking the judicial process for granted.”

The community’s legal team urged Aiteo’s counsel to cooperate for a timely conclusion, stressing justice delayed amounts to justice denied. Environmental law advocates have renewed calls for specialized environmental courts to fast-track oil pollution cases in the Niger Delta. The Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission’s 2023 report revealed about 25 percent of all oil spills in the Niger Delta occur within the state, highlighting flaws in the Joint Investigation Visit process including weak oversight and industry interference.

As Nembe communities face ongoing environmental and legal battles, frustration mounts over what residents describe as “a recurring cycle of neglect, pollution, and injustice” leaving an enduring scar on their creeks.