Sapele — The people of Otonyatsere community in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State, have implored Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited to dialogue with them with a view to compensating them over an oil spill in their community caused by the company’s equipment failure at its Ovhor line, on December 23, 2013.
Chairman of Otonyatsere Community, Dr. Austin Arieja, who spoke to Vanguard, yesterday, said that the community was not at war with the company, although the spillage had caused economic hardship to the people of the area, who are mainly farmers.
He said that the community was pleading with the company to urgently take steps to clean-up the spillage and send relief materials and cash compensation to the affected persons in order to rehabilitate them.
He said that while awaiting report of the Joint Investigation Visit, JIV, carried out at the scene of the spillage by a team of officials of National Oil Spillage Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, Seplat Petroleum, Directorate of Petroleum Resources, DPR and other relevant agencies, it was necessary to ameliorate the suffering of the people without further delay as the spill had caused great economic losses to the people.
He said: “The country’s environmental law states that where a spillage occurs, the company involved should dialogue and compensate the people directly affected and in this case, Otonyatsere is the community directly affected in this spillage. The company should dialogue with us and not Sapele Okpe community.”
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