PORT HARCOURT — Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has convened an emergency high-level meeting to address a persistent gas leakage that has thrown the riverine community of Bille, in Degema Local Government Area, into weeks of anxiety over threats to residents’ health, livelihoods and the fragile aquatic ecosystem they depend on.
The Wednesday meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt, brought together federal and state officials, industry regulators, oil and gas operators, and representatives of the Bille community, two weeks after residents first raised alarm over the leak’s disruptive effects on local life and fishing-based livelihoods.
Visibly concerned by the community’s plight, Fubara pressed for a swift, coordinated and lasting resolution, and committed the state to immediately upgrading Bille’s Primary Healthcare Centre to better equip it for health complications linked to the incident.
The governor disclosed that state officials had already toured the affected area alongside industry operators and representatives of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and that Wednesday’s gathering was meant to bring every stakeholder to the table to establish the facts, trace the leak’s origin and settle on the most effective remedy.
“You’re aware that there is a case of gas leakage somewhere in Bille and the people have been making some requests that the government should come to their rescue to resolve the situation,” Fubara told the meeting, stressing that citizen safety would not be treated lightly. He described the outcome as productive and promised more concrete action in the weeks ahead.
Federal Government Denies Inaction
Leading the federal delegation, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, pushed back against claims that Abuja had been indifferent to the crisis. He said technical experts were deployed to Bille as soon as the leak was reported, but that the probe had been slowed by the puzzling absence of any known oil or gas infrastructure near the leak site — a gap that now demands a more rigorous technical investigation.
“The investigation is still ongoing, but we decided to do a follow-up visit to the area to talk to the people of Bille community that we need collaboration on their part so that we would be able to arrive at a lasting solution,” Ekpo said, acknowledging that residents’ fears were justified given the risks the leak posed to lives, the environment and community stability.
He reaffirmed that protecting citizens’ welfare and security remained government’s core responsibility, noting that the federal team’s visit to Rivers State was aimed at working directly with the state toward a durable fix.
NUPRC Commits to Immediate Relief
Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, pledged the commission’s full commitment to resolving the matter, saying it would collaborate with operators to meet Bille’s immediate needs — including the urgent supply of potable water and fire trucks — as residents await technical confirmation of the leak’s source and a safe containment plan.
Community Response
Speaking for the Bille Council of Chiefs, Public Relations Officer Chief Rena Dappa thanked Fubara, the federal delegation and other stakeholders for responding to the community’s concerns, expressing hope that the engagement would yield lasting solutions and shield Bille from further environmental and health harm.
The Bille incident again spotlights the environmental precarity of riverine communities across the Niger Delta, where oil and gas-linked disasters routinely endanger fishing, water sources, public health and local economies.
For residents, the true measure of Wednesday’s meeting will not be the assurances exchanged in Port Harcourt but how quickly those pledges translate into action on the ground — technical containment, clean water, emergency response support, medical care, and a clear account of what caused the leak. For Governor Fubara, the crisis has become a pressing test of government responsiveness in a region where environmental safety is not merely a policy concern, but a matter of survival.
