An oil spill from an 8-inch crude delivery pipeline at Oil Mining Lease 29 has polluted Nembe communities around the Santa Barbara River in Bayelsa State, with residents of these communities demanding probe.

The OML 29 asset is operated by Nembe Exploration and Production Company Limited, formerly Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the leak at the Tora area in Nembe occurred on October 1, discharging a yet to be ascertained volume of 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, signed by Mr. Iniruo Wills, Managing Partner of Ntephe Smith and Wills, the spill has adversely impacted the people who depend on the Santa Barbara River.

The letter, sighted by a NAN Correspondent, was sent in response to an invitation to a Joint Investigation Visit to the spill site to ascertain the cause and volume of the spill.

The oil firm had confirmed the oil spill in a letter with reference number NEPCo/HSE-JIV/2025/04 dated October 5, which proposed a JIV for October 6. However, the Nembe communities, in their response to the letter, kicked against the October 6 date and opted for October 9.

The community’s legal counsel detailed their reasons for rejecting the proposed date and the need for a thorough investigation: “We remind you, as you are quite aware of already that the Community requires and deserves decent notice to assemble a competent JIV team, some of whom usually come from Lagos, Port Harcourt and/or Yenagoa, in order to ensure due diligence and avoid or countervail the perennial practice of manipulating the JIV process and suppressing critical information.”

The letter outlined the communities’ expectations for the immediate and long-term management of the crisis: “Please note that our clients demand a thorough and competent investigation of this spill, and adequate management (including swift post-spill assessment and remediation).

Beyond this spill, for the records, we demand on behalf of our clients again for a top-level engagement (Company, Community Technical Team, and Regulators) for a lasting overall framework to put a stop to this unbearable and continual burden.”