File photo: House of Representatives
The House of Representatives Committee on South-South Development Commission has demanded urgent intervention to end the prolonged gas seepage in Bille community in Rivers State, after fresh technical findings revealed the presence of potentially hazardous gases and pollution in the community’s air, water and sediment.
The committee also ordered concrete action to address an oil spill that has reportedly affected Odidi Federated Community in Delta State for more than five months.
The committee’s Chairman, 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 in Abuja.
Pondi said the two incidents underscored the environmental and developmental challenges confronting oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta region, where residents continue to bear the consequences of environmental degradation despite the region’s contribution to the national economy.
