Aiteo officials, Bayelsa committee ‘disagree’ over media presence during visit to Nembe oil spill site

The joint investigative visit (JIV) into the cause and volume of the recent oil spillage at Nembe LGA of Bayelsa state has suffered a setback.

JIV is a statutory probe into the cause of any recorded spill incident involving the oil firm, regulators, host communities and state ministries of environment.

A wellhead in the Santa Barbara South field had blown on November 5, spewing oil and gas into the water bodies and causing environmental disaster — the leak lasted four weeks.

The wellhead is a joint venture between Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Last week, Aiteo said it had finally put out the leak.

According to NAN, officials of Aiteo opposed the inclusion of journalists in the investigation, but the Bayelsa technical committee insisted that inclusion of the press is to ensure transparency.

The divergent views expressed by the two parties led to a boycott by the representatives of Bayelsa ministry of environment and the Bayelsa technical committee which was recently established by Duoye Diri, the state governor.

Officials of Aiteo, who were said to have declined to disclose their identity while the disagreement lasted, reportedly argued that the JIV only comprised representatives of oil firm, regulators, state ministry of environment and impacted communities.

They maintained that they were not opposed to the participation of the state technical committee but the inclusion of media was not allowed in the statute books that listed the statutory participants in a JIV.

Reacting to the development, Kemasuode Wodu, head of the state legal team, described the exclusion of the press as “unacceptable”.

“The Bayelsa government team on the JIV was barred by Aiteo and armed security deployed to the oilfields. So, when they insisted that we drop our press crew, we became apprehensive of their motives and even our safety,” Wodu said.

“So, we are not aware if they went ahead or not but we were emphatic that the state government wants investigations to be conducted in a very transparent manner.”

NAN reported that Mathew Ndiana-Abasi, Aiteo spokesperson, was not reachable for comments while the joint military task force in Niger Delta referred enquiries to the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.