A fresh oil spill has occurred in Ogoniland, Rivers State, when a pipeline belonging to Shell burst between Dio, in Tai Local Government and Dere Local Government.
President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni, Barrister Ledum Mitee, in a chat with newsmen yesterday said the cause could not be ascertained at the moment but he did not rule out sabotage. He, however, added that it was sabotage, it could not have been the handiwork of the native farmer whose land was polluted.
As at press time, some communities in the two local governments had been severely affected by the incident. Mittee said when he visited the place on Monday crude was still flowing out from the pipeline, but said he did not ascertain the extent of damage.
His words: “It depends on how it goes because there is more volume and so it can flow to a longer distance, it can go through the streams, it can get to the rivers and if does get to the rivers, that is another problem, but in terms of the acreage that I�ve seen, because its coming from the ground it may not affect as large an area as the other one did.
�It is still difficult to know what the cause is at this stage. I have always been of the firm view that even when there is a case of sabotage, which we cannot say does not exist, it is not the farmer whose crops are there that will go and cause sabotage, rather it should be more of those who will benefit from the spill like Shell contractors who will eventually go for the clean-up, which I say is a cover-up.”
A source from Shell who spoke to the Vanguard said the situation had been contained, adding that there were fears that the incident was due to sabotage. He said the quantity of crude lost had not been ascertained. Another source said there were signs that the pipeline was sawed into.