A recent oil spill from an 8 inch crude delivery pipeline at Oil Mining Lease 29 (OML 29) has polluted Nembe communities around the Santa Barbara River in Bayelsa.
The OML 29 asset is operated by Nembe Exploration and Production Company Limited, formerly Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited. The leak occurred on October 1, discharging a yet to be ascertained volume of Nembe Crude into the Santa Barbara River and adjoining areas.
According to a letter to the operator of OML 29 by the legal counsel to the Opu Nembe Kingdom, the spill has adversely impacted the people who depend on the Santa Barbara River. “Our clients, who depend on oil polluted waters for daily survival, view these delays as unnecessary and insensitive,” the letter stated. The community’s legal team urged Aiteo’s counsel to cooperate in ensuring the case proceeds to a timely conclusion, stressing that “justice delayed amounts to justice denied”.
The oil firm confirmed the oil spill in a letter Ref: NEPCo/HSE JIV/2025/04 dated October 5, proposing a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) to the spill site to ascertain the cause and volume of the spill. However, the Nembe communities rejected the proposed date of October 6 and opted for October 9.
The communities are seeking a top level engagement between the company, the community’s technical team, and regulators to establish a lasting framework that ends this continual environmental burden. “Beyond this spill, our clients demand a top level engagement between the company, the community’s technical team, and regulators to establish a lasting framework that ends this continual environmental burden,” the letter added.
This incident has reignited fears among residents who are still recovering from the impact of the 2021 disaster that lasted more than a month before it was contained. Aiteo, which acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company’s OML 29 in 2015, has faced several spill related controversies in Nembe over the past decade.
The Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission’s 2023 report revealed that about 25 percent of all oil spills in the Niger Delta occur within the state. It also highlighted severe flaws in the Joint Investigation Visit process, including weak regulatory oversight and industry interference. Environmental law advocates have renewed calls for the creation of specialized environmental courts to fast track cases of oil pollution in the Niger Delta.