For the people of Ikot Ebidang in Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, sleep has been murdered following the oil and gas exploration activities in their community.
Aside from the smell of the noxious gas discharge that hits anyone who enters the community, the tumultuous sounds from the gas flare sites have sacked some residents and rendered those who do not have alternative homes sleepless.
Ikot Ebidang, host to the Oil and Gas company, Natural Oilfield Service (Sterling Global) has raised the alarm over destruction of their environment, poor crop yield and poor health outcomes through fossil fuel extraction.
One thing remarkable in the sleepy community is the preponderance of darkened and corroded rooftops due to combustion residues from the flare stack.
Speaking during a dialogue on renewable energy, the people decried the destruction of aquatic ecosystems, farm crops, as well as heat and skin rashes which have become very common.
One of the community stakeholders narrated, “We have lost a lot of people in our community, our health is in danger.
“If you are coming into the community, you will be perceiving the gas not to talk of those living around the site. This is not just natural global warming but community burning.
“The soil nutrient is reducing and the gas flare has altered aquatic life. Our forest and rivers are polluted. I don’t know if it’s at the expense of one man or two who wants to do business, we are dying, we need help.
“If you stay here till around 7- 8 pm when everywhere is quiet, the sound alone is like an earthquake, people are afraid of what will happen next.”
Meanwhile, the operating company did not sneak into the community to begin its activities, there must be a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them, the government and the community.
To this end, people of Ikot Ebidang have called for the renegotiation of the MoU granting the company access to their community to adequately address concerns around pollution and environmental harm.
In a communique, the people called on the Akwa Ibom government to halt fossil fuel extraction activities, and the operating company to pipe associated gas away from residential areas rather than flaring within the community.
“Continued flaring within the community worsens health outcomes, environmental degradation, and community vulnerability.
“The community must be compensated for livelihood losses and damages resulting from oil extraction, alongside the provision of adequate health facilities to help residents cope with ongoing impacts,” the communique added.
Gasflaring is illegal – Expert
According to an environmental expert, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, who is also the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, (HOMEF), one of the facilitators of the dialogue, gas flaring remains illegal and a violation of human rights in Nigeria, especially when done where people are living.
He stated that every community in the Niger Delta has serious environmental problems, noting that from the complaints of the people of Ikot Ebidang, they have surface knowledge of the implication and life threatening effects of gas flare.
His words, “Gasflare problem is central because of its implication to human health, environmental health.
“In-fact they have not started experiencing the serious problem of gasflare, not just about noise, heat or rashes which they have largely complained of, if it continues this way, they risk reproductive problems, cancers, blood disorders and so many problems associated with gas flaring. I think people actually have a very surface understanding of what is coming.”
He promised to help the community get environmental justice and achieve their demands.
Document Evidence of Negative Impacts – Community told
Meanwhile, the community has been told to document in real time all evidence of negative impacts of gas flare and oil spill they have witnessed.
Umo Isua-Ikoh of the Peace Point Development Foundation, PPDF, also one of the dialogue facilitators, and Edem Edem, the immediate past African representative of Climate Investment Fund of the World Bank, Washington DC, in their joint presentation, harped on the need to have evidence in case either of the parties wants to institute a legal action.
“In environmental monitoring, we are looking at how you can have a good evidence should you be taken to court or you want to go to court, so you must have something the court must accept such as a real time evidence for instance if there is an oil spill, you must have a picture of the spill with GPS camera so that location will be captured.
“You can also take samples with a container, cork and label so that by the time we present it to NODSRA for testing, the test will be able to detect the asset owner.
“The community should also be able to have a picture of how the community was and how it is today. Not only for the court, also for posterity.
“For us as environmentalists, we want to see how we can encourage the communities to take monitoring and evidence documentation seriously because this will enable them to observe changes in their community.
“They can also equally begin to engage themselves to find lasting solutions to their issues,” they stated.
They also noted that communities must be compensated for livelihood losses and damages resulting from oil extraction, alongside the provision of adequate health facilities to help residents cope with ongoing impacts.
“The government must prioritise the wellbeing of communities such as Ikot Ebidang rather than sacrificing them in efforts to increase oil production to 3 million barrels per day.
“The community should be supported to train and deploy environmental advocates who can centre and champion community interests and environmental perspectives.
“The company should provide renewable energy solutions to help address energy poverty while mitigating the impacts of extractive activities on the community.
“The government must ensure routine environmental monitoring and regular air quality inspections to safeguard community health and environmental integrity,” they concluded.