By Gift ChapiOdekina, Abuja
The House of Representatives Committee on South-South Development Commission has called for urgent action to address the prolonged gas seepage in Bille Community, Rivers State, and the oil spill affecting Odidi Federated Community in Delta State.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Julius Pondi, made the call on Thursday during a stakeholders’ engagement on the Bille gas seepage and a legislative hearing on the Odidi oil spill in Abuja.
Pondi said the incidents had exposed residents of the two oil-producing communities to prolonged environmental and economic challenges, stressing that affected communities deserved concrete interventions rather than prolonged investigations.
He said the committee’s concern over the Bille incident intensified following its July 30, 2026 engagement with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), where it learnt that the gas seepage had persisted for about nine months.
