Emergency: Shell Company On Fire as Explosion Destroys Many Facilities
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and the Nigerian Agip Oil Company around Ikarama in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State just witnessed massive fire explosions that damaged many facilities.
A variety of attacks on the oil facilities by unknown persons that was staged on Monday has caused serious destruction to the companies.
According to Ben Warder, a youth leader in the community, residents heard deafening sounds from the affected oilfields and got panicked to move close to the areas.
“The site is not far from Ikarama. We heard sounds from the blasts and it sounded like dynamites,” Warder said.
“It was not safe to go near, so when the situation became quiet we had to trace what happened and it turned out that Shell’s gas pipeline and Agip’s crude lines were destroyed.
“The incident resulted in air pollution from the gas pipeline and crude leak which members of the affected communities are battling to cope with,” he added.
A spokesperson for the SPDC, Michael Adande, confirmed the incident, saying the impacted facility had been shut down to curtail further damage.
He said, “We have a report of an interference on our pipeline about 1 kilometre from Ikarama community in Bayelsa State.
“We immediately shut-in the line and we have informed the relevant regulatory government agencies and stakeholders.
“A government-led joint investigation team will determine the cause of the interference.”
