OIL SPILL HIT MOBIL QUA IBOE FACILITY - july 2010

Just 38 days after the lastoil spill that contaminatedIbeno shoreline in AkwaIbom, another spill hasbeen reported at the QuaIboe oil fields.The fresh oil spill sparked off a protest as hundreds of Ibenoresidents staged a peacefuldemonstration  against  incessantoil  spills from the operations ofM o b i l i n    I b e n o . O u rcorrespondent reliably gatheredthat soldiers deployed to guardMobil facilities were involved in askirmish with the protestingwomen in which one womans u f f e r e d  a  b r o k e n l e g .The victim,  Mrs. Grace JoshuaEtia, told Saharareporters she wasb e a t e n  u p  b y   s o l d i e r s .“Though our protests werepeaceful the soldiers came hardon defenseless women and beat usup for protesting that thefrequency of spills is too much.We had one on December 4, lastyear; another one happened inMarch this year and then this oneagain. We can no longer catchany fish as a result of this.“And instead of looking into ourcomplaints and finding solutionsto them, they resorted to beatingus up and they broke my leg,” shes a i d .It will be recalled that Mobilreported that a pipeline leak onDecember 4, 2009 caused thedischarge of crude  at  Idoho oilwell in the Atlantic;  another spillincident which contaminatedIbeno shoreline was denied by alloil operators in Akwa Ibom.Chief Samingo  Etukakpan, an oilindustry labour activist, said thatthe spill had impacted the creeksand estuaries in Eket and beyond.“Findings from Esit Eket, Onnahave shown that the spill hasimpacted other communities inthe neighbourhood, yet Mobilchose to only invite Ibeno for ameeting on the current spill, wewill make sure that all impactedcommunities are carried along”.H e  f u r t h e r  t o l d   o u rcorrespondent:  “We noticed theoil on Monday at the coastline andit has contaminated the land withr e s u l t a n t imp a c t o n t h eenvironment and marine life andthis is sad news for the fishingc ommu n i t y b e c a u s e o u rfishermen cannot go to sea untilthe cleanup is carried out.”It was gathered that the massprotest spread to Eket andenvirons as youths from the areamarched in the streets displayingplacards and chanting war songs.Some of the placards read:“Rita Umoren Must Go!”“ExxonMobil, learn from BPr e s p o n s e  i n  U S . ”“Pay us adequate compensation!”The Clan Head of Afah Eket inEket local government, ObongNathaniel Oduneyie, toldSaharareporters that the frequentspills have contaminated fishesand exposed the public to healthd a n g e r .“I bought some fresh fish from themarket and it was contaminated,the whole pot of soup has beencontaminated and I can show you.He said he was informed thatthere was an oil spill on Saturday,and he went out to see things forhimself and found the area badlystained with crude oil. By thetime he returned the youths ofEket were out protesting.“I have just asked them toembrace dialogue because I am anadvocate of peace and I hope thecompany would not take mypeaceful disposition for granted,”he said.