AITEO alerts stakeholders of sustained economic sabotage of the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL)
The owner of a barge involved in a recent oil spill in the Nembe Creek area of Bayelsa State has denied that Nembe Exploration and Production Limited or Aiteo Eastern E&P Company played any role in the incident, describing it as a minor accident involving his own vessel.
Ebikeme Sokere, chief executive of Fazal Environmental Company, said in an interview on Wednesday that the spill occurred when his moving barge struck debris in the water, and that neither company had any connection to what happened.
“It wasn’t really a big issue. It was a small accident. It wasn’t a serious matter. The barge was moving, then it hit a broken block or debris,” Sokere said, questioning why a civil society organisation had drawn attention to the incident.
Sokere said the vessel belonged to his company and had no link to Nembe Exploration’s operations. “It had nothing to do with Aiteo. It’s my barge, nothing to do with Aiteo,” he said, adding that he was surprised by what he called the “unnecessary noise” surrounding the accident.
