Rivers State Governorship Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress NDC in the 2027 general elections, Opuda (Alabo) Dumo Lulu-Briggs has called on the Rivers State and Federal Governments, Degema Local Government Council, NUPRC, NOSDRA, NEMA, the Bille community leadership and all relevant operators, to immediately establish a coordinated emergency response and source-control mechanism in a collective effort to address the environmental emergency that has befallen Bille Community in Rivers State.
Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs who posted this clarion call for urgent action to address the Bille environmental hazard in a statement on his verified social media handles, noted that the situation in Bille is deeply concerning and must be treated with the urgency, emphasized that the call is not merely an environmental complaint, but is also a public-safety, public-health and livelihood emergency affecting a Rivers community that has long carried the burden of Nigeriaβs oil and gas economy, adding that “No resource-bearing community should be left in fear, uncertainty or silence while technical questions are being investigated”.
The priorities underlining this emergency call, according to Chief Lulu-Briggs, are very clear; protection of lives, provision of clean water and medical support, publishing the scientific evidence in plain language, identifying and stopping the source of the hazard and ensuring proper remediation and compensation where responsibility is established.
While expressing deep empathy with the families, fishermen, women, children and community institutions whose water sources, health, safety and livelihoods may have been affected, the Rivers NDC Governorship Candidate declared emphatically that: “Bille must not suffer in silence, our communities should not suffer in silence. Rivers people deserve environmental justice, public safety, honest information and responsible stewardship of the resources taken from their land and waters”.
The call by Opuda (Alabo) Dumo Lulu-Briggs comes in the wake of confirmation that gas seepage has contaminated the first aquifer of Nigerian community, Bille Kingdom in Degema Local government Area of Rivers State, caused by subterranean gas eruptions from decaying oil infrastructure originally built by a major multinational oil company in the 1960s.
This has resulted in the contamination of all local water sources with toxic hydrocarbons and methane, causing respiratory illnesses, ecosystem collapse, the risks of fire outbreak and a horrible environmental disaster which the community has been facing since the gas eruptions, resulting in depressing and devastating health, economic, social, and environmental conditions of community members.
The admonition by Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs has become even more germane and poignant, following reports that the Federal Government has commenced emergency humanitarian intervention in Bille Community, with the recent visit of a delegation led by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, to Bille Kingdom, who assured residents that the Federal Government, in addition to the immediate relief materials it is providing, would also embark on complementary emergency measures, including the provision of potable water, intensive medical outreach, medical consumables, firefighting equipment and improved electricity supply, as well as ensure a permanent solution to the environmental challenge.
The delegation, which included the Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, as well as representatives of oil and gas operating companies also paid a courtesy call on Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, who pledged the stateβs support in addressing the emergency and directed the immediate upgrade of the communityβs primary healthcare centre to enable it respond effectively to health emergencies arising from the incident.
The appeal by the NDC Rivers gubernatorial candidate, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, to address the Bille environmental disaster further emphasizes the need for a more organized and coordinated approach beyond preliminary investigations andΒ government responses which have so far been fragmented and less than adequate, thereby exposing deep failures in regulatory oversight and asset management that potentially threaten a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe in the community, if not mitigated urgently.
The full statement by Opuda (Alabo) Dumo Lulu-Briggs reads:
ON THE BILLE ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY
The situation in Bille is deeply concerning and must be treated with the urgency, seriousness and humanity it deserves. This is not merely an environmental complaint. It is a public-safety, public-health and livelihood emergency affecting a Rivers community that has long carried the burden of Nigeriaβs oil and gas economy.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families, fishermen, women, children and community institutions whose water sources, health, safety and livelihoods may have been affected. No resource-bearing community should be left in fear, uncertainty or silence while technical questions are being investigated.
I call on the Federal Government, the Rivers State Government, NUPRC, NOSDRA, NEMA, Degema Local Government Council, the Bille community leadership and all relevant operators to immediately establish a coordinated emergency response and source-control mechanism for Bille.
The priorities are clear: protect lives, provide clean water and medical support, publish the scientific evidence in plain language, identify and stop the source of the hazard, and ensure proper remediation and compensation where responsibility is established.
This moment calls for transparent science, not speculation; practical relief, not political theatre; and accountability, not delay. The people of Bille deserve to know what has happened, what risks they face, what is being done, and who will take responsibility.
Bille should also become a turning point in how Rivers State and Nigeria confront the wider problem of legacy oil-and-gas infrastructure in our communities. Abandoned wells, ageing flowlines, old pumps, pipelines and other oilfield assets must not remain hidden risks to communities, water systems, livelihoods and the environment.
I will not prejudge the technical cause. That is the work of competent regulators, scientists and engineers. But we insist that the people must be protected now, the truth must be established openly, the hazard must be brought under control, and those responsible must meet their obligations to the community.
Bille must not suffer in silence, our communities should not suffer in silence. Rivers people deserve environmental justice, public safety, honest information and responsible stewardship of the resources taken from their land and waters.
Ceaselessly Yours,
Opuda (Alabo) Dumo Lulu-Briggs