GROUP KICKS AGAINST SHELL FLARINGS IN BAYELSA COMMUNITY

GROUP KICKS AGAINST SHELL FLARINGS IN BAYELSA COMMUNITY

By Faith Kordoo

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria [ERA/FoEN] has called on the Federal Government to compel Shell to stop the flares in the Gbarantoru community in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

The body’s call comes in the wake of a visit to the community by a team from the Yenagoa office led by Program Manager and Head of the Niger Delta Resource Center in Bayelsa, Comrade Alagoa Morris, on March 1st, 2024.

The visit followed distress calls by members of the community who feared for their lives and their environment due to the flares.

Gbarantoru in the Ekpetiama kingdom of Yenagoa LGA is a relatively large community and densely populated. During the visit, ERA/FoEN monitors observed the gas flare from the Shell facility furiously blasting away. Not only was the horizontally flared gas so huge and menacingly noisy, but the threat to buildings in the community was obvious as they continued to vibrate rhythmically.

A school within the vicinity is said to have been forced to shut down as a direct result of the impact of the flares.

ERA/FoEN also observed that a very high-pressure liquid suspected to be water was being sprayed into the air in the direction of the huge flare. The sprayed water might be technically viewed as reducing heat produced by the flame or having some chemical reaction with the noxious gases so released. This, it was noted, is left for experts to properly explain.

Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Chima Williams, described Shell’s action prompting victims to cry out as eco-terrorism, as the vegetation, lives, and property of victims are under attack by this horizontal emission of noxious gases.

He added that the flares negate the principle behind Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

William also frowned at the Nigerian government for turning a blind eye to the obvious abuse of the rights of the locals to a safe environment to thrive at a time when countries and leaders are initiating better policies to safeguard the health and safety of the environment.

The group’s ED therefore called on the Federal Ministries of Petroleum and Environment to prevail on Shell to stop the ongoing eco-terrorism by Shell in Gbarantoru.

He also urged the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment to bridge the gap with a formal complaint to the Federal Authorities concerning the unacceptable.

In an interview with some of the community members, an Indigene of Gbarantoru and former Councilor in Yenagoa LGA, Seiyefa Saiyou Jones, expressed regret at the attitude of disdain and lack of concern displayed by Shell.

He lamented that the community has become unbearable to live in as the peace, health, and safety of the people are under threat due to the vicious gas flaring by Shell.

‘’In the night, there is no way to sleep. Due to the noise from the raging gas flare, the children cannot sleep in the room anymore. The entire building is vibrating. I am directly affected. Besides the light [from the flare], the vibration of the house is so alarming. This is about the fourth day since they put on the gas flare. It is so alarming at night; I can’t sleep; my children can’t sleep. We all remain vigilant and awake all through the night.

“This is happening in the heart of the community. They are supposed to relocate those who are affected and compensate them. You can hear the noise. This is even more than the sound of an airplane landing at the airport. Due to this gas flare, the primary school was forced to go on vacation. How can they learn in this atmosphere?” he worried.

On his part, the Ibenanaowei of the Ekpetiama kingdom, HRM King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada 1V, likened the ongoing gas flaring in the community to pumping in toxic and harmful gas into the bodies of the people.

The king expressed concern that the people of the community may die from the harmful substances that have been released into the air.