Bille Gas Seepage, Odidi Oil Spill: Reps Seek Concrete Action, Accountability

The House of Representatives has called for immediate and concrete measures to address the ongoing gas seepage in Bille Community, Rivers State, and the oil spill in Odidi Federated Community, Delta State.

The call was made on Thursday by the Chairman of the House Committee on South-South Development Commission, Hon. Julius Pondi, during a stakeholders’ engagement on the Bille incident and a legislative hearing on the Odidi oil spill in Abuja.

Pondi said the prolonged incidents had created serious environmental and economic consequences for residents of the affected communities.

He said communities that had endured the impact for months deserved concrete solutions instead of investigations that failed to produce results.

The lawmaker said the committee’s concerns over Bille intensified after its July 30, 2026 meeting with NUPRC and NOSDRA, during which it was informed that the gas seepage had lasted for approximately nine months.

“The implications are serious. Beyond the potential risks to health, safety and the environment, the incident has imposed severe economic hardship on the people of Bille,” Pondi said.

He explained that Bille’s fishing-dependent population had experienced setbacks in livelihoods, food security, household earnings and education.

“It is unacceptable for an incident of this magnitude to persist for so long without a clear, time-bound and effective resolution strategy,” he said.

Pondi said the latest engagement was designed to establish what caused the seepage, review interventions already carried out, identify barriers to resolving the problem and agree on practical measures with specific timelines.

The committee, he said, expected detailed presentations from operating companies, NUPRC, NOSDRA and other agencies on the cause, scope and present status of the incident.

Bille representatives were also expected to explain the community’s concerns and the relief measures they consider necessary.

“Most importantly, we want to move from prolonged discussion to concrete action and lasting resolution,” he said.

Committee to Establish Facts on Odidi Spill

Pondi said the legislative hearing on the Odidi oil spill would examine when the incident occurred and was reported, what caused it, the containment measures adopted, the extent of the damage and the current state of remediation.

The committee would also seek to establish why the spill had continued.

“Our approach will be fair, objective and evidence-based. We are not here to prejudge any party, but to establish the facts, promote accountability and facilitate solutions,” Pondi said.

He said both incidents reflected the wider environmental and developmental challenges confronting communities in the South-South.

According to Pondi, communities in the region continue to bear a disproportionate environmental burden despite the South-South’s significant contribution to Nigeria’s oil and gas economy.

“The wealth derived from the natural resources of the Niger Delta must not come at the unacceptable cost of the health, livelihoods and future of its people,” he said.

He stressed that the National Assembly had a constitutional duty to provide oversight, promote accountability and ensure that environmental and resource-management agencies carried out their responsibilities effectively.

Pondi warned that the process must produce more than promises.

“We expect clear resolutions, firm commitments, defined responsibilities and measurable timelines,” he said.

He urged all stakeholders, including oil companies, regulators, ministries, government institutions and community leaders, to approach the engagement openly and work towards lasting solutions.

NOSDRA Reveals Gas Pollution Findings

Providing an update on the Bille incident, NOSDRA confirmed that hydrogen sulphide, methane, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide had been detected in the community.

NOSDRA Director, Dr Yusuf Rigasa, said the agency identified “multi-point subsurface gas bubbling” at various locations, including the premises of the Government Primary and Secondary School.

He said the school had been abandoned, while bubbling was also observed around waterways and mangrove areas.

According to Rigasa, NOSDRA’s December 6, 2025 air-quality assessment across 19 stations recorded elevated concentrations of the gases, with some exceeding applicable regulatory thresholds.

He explained that hydrogen sulphide is associated with a rotten-egg odour, while methane is highly flammable and potentially explosive.

Rigasa added that laboratory analysis of samples collected on December 16, 2025, revealed elevated total petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater, surface water and sediment.

He said the findings showed that parts of the community’s soil, groundwater and surface water had been polluted.

The agency’s technical presentation to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, he said, suggested that the seepage was probably biogenic, resulting from the degradation of organic matter.

However, Rigasa emphasised that NOSDRA had not established that the gas came from a hydrocarbon source.

He said the agency had not identified an oil and gas operator responsible for the seepage despite preliminary investigations involving Renaissance, Eroton, New Cross and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.

NUPRC, he added, had reported that it had no record of pipelines in the immediate area where the seepage was taking place.

“That also tells us our findings, because we searched for oil and gas assets at the locations. There were none. That is why we are not able to actually pin a certain operator to what is actually happening,” Rigasa said.

He said NUPRC had corroborated NOSDRA’s findings, while a reservoir survey was ongoing to establish whether an underground hydrocarbon reservoir could be responsible.

“What we can confirm for the House is that the air, the groundwater, the surface water and the sediment in the swampy areas in that village, they are all polluted,” he said.

Bille Leaders Demand Potable Water, Permanent Solution

The Bille Kingdom Chiefs Council told the committee that the seepage had affected water sources, fishing and education in the community.

The council’s Secretary-General, Chief Luckyman Egbila, Opu Gbolo III of Ancient Bille Kingdom, said the incident started on November 6, 2025, in a mangrove area where women were harvesting periwinkles.

He said authorities were immediately alerted, after which NOSDRA visited the community and conducted assessments.

Egbila said community representatives later went to Abuja to petition relevant agencies after what he described as inadequate responses from regulators.

He said additional assessments involving air, soil and water were conducted during engagements with operators, but the community was not provided with the results.

According to him, residents continued to petition federal agencies before NUPRC assumed a leading role in subsequent investigations.

Despite these efforts, he said, the community was yet to receive a definitive explanation for the seepage or a permanent solution.

“Up till now, we are yet to see anything. Just as it happened the first time, they have gone back to sleep,” Egbila said.

He said the continued bubbling in mangrove areas had made fishing difficult.

“Our people cannot go to fishing. Most of the mangroves are bubbling. Particularly, we don’t have water to drink. We don’t have water to eat with,” he said.

Egbila also alleged contamination of some dugout wells and worsening air quality.

He said the Rivers State Government had released N100 million for palliative interventions, including food distribution and a medical outreach, but argued that the assistance was inadequate given the prolonged nature of the crisis.

He called for immediate access to potable water and a permanent solution to the gas seepage.

“Water is life. We can’t exist without potable drinking water,” he said.

The community leader also said pupils had been relocated from the primary school due to concerns about exposure to emissions.

He appealed for the upgrade of the community’s primary health centre and the deployment of resident doctors, noting that residents often travel to Port Harcourt to access medical care.

Egbila further alleged that some borehole water turned black shortly after being pumped.

He called on the Federal Government, regulators and oil and gas companies to provide safe drinking water, address the health and livelihood consequences and find an urgent and permanent solution to the seepage.

Pondi assured the Bille and Odidi communities that the House would continue its oversight activities and engage relevant institutions to ensure appropriate action.

He said the objective was to promote responsible resource development in the South-South, protect host communities and ensure that environmental incidents received timely responses.

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