The House of Representatives Committee on South-South Development Commission has called for immediate and concrete intervention to address the prolonged gas seepage in Bille Community, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, and the persistent oil spill affecting Odidi Federated Community in Delta State.
Committee Chairman, Hon. Julius Pondi, made the demand on Thursday during an urgent stakeholders’ engagement on the Bille gas seepage and a legislative hearing on the Odidi oil spill held in Abuja.
Pondi described the situations as unacceptable, noting that the Bille gas seepage has continued for approximately nine months without a clear, time-bound resolution, while the Odidi oil spill has persisted for more than five months. He emphasised that the incidents have imposed severe environmental, health, safety and economic hardships on residents of the oil-producing communities.
“It is unacceptable for an incident of this magnitude to persist for so long without a clear, time-bound and effective resolution strategy,” Pondi stated. “Most importantly, we want to move from prolonged discussion to concrete action and lasting resolution.”
Technical briefings presented to the committee by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) confirmed the presence of multiple hazardous gases in Bille, including hydrogen sulphide, methane, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide. Air-quality assessments recorded elevated pollutant levels exceeding regulatory thresholds.
Laboratory analysis also detected elevated total petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater, surface water and sediment samples. Multi-point subsurface gas bubbling has been observed at several locations, including the premises of the Government Primary and Secondary School, which has since been abandoned.
The committee will further probe the cause of the Odidi oil spill, containment efforts, the extent of environmental damage, the status of remediation, and the reasons for the prolonged impact on the Delta community.
Lawmakers stressed that the South-South region remains the economic backbone of Nigeria and that development must not come at the expense of the health, safety and livelihoods of host communities. The committee expects comprehensive briefings and decisive action from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), NOSDRA, relevant operating companies and other stakeholders.