Lulu-Briggs Calls For Urgent Action On Bille Environmental Emergency, Demands Transparency, Accountability

Businessman and public figure, Opuda (Alabo) Dumo Lulu-Briggs, has called for an immediate and coordinated response to the environmental emergency in Bille Community, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, describing the situation as a major public health, environmental and livelihood crisis.

In a statement, Lulu-Briggs said the incident should not be viewed as "merely an environmental complaint" but as an emergency requiring urgent intervention to protect lives and restore public confidence.

He expressed sympathy with the people of Bille, particularly families, fishermen, women, children and community institutions whose health, water sources, safety and means of livelihood may have been affected.

"No resource-bearing community should be left in fear, uncertainty or silence while technical questions are being investigated," he stated.

Lulu-Briggs urged the Federal Government, the Rivers State Government, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Degema Local Government Council, the Bille community leadership and all relevant operators to immediately establish a coordinated emergency response and source-control mechanism.

According to him, the immediate priorities should include protecting lives, providing clean drinking water and medical support to affected residents, making scientific findings available to the public in clear and understandable language, identifying and stopping the source of the hazard, and ensuring proper environmental remediation and compensation where responsibility is established.

He stressed that the situation requires "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," he said.

Lulu-Briggs further argued that the incident should serve as a wake-up call for Rivers State and Nigeria to address the growing dangers posed by ageing and abandoned oil and gas infrastructure.

He warned that abandoned wells, ageing flowlines, old pumps, pipelines and other oilfield assets should no longer remain hidden threats to communities, water resources, livelihoods and the environment.

While refraining from assigning blame before investigations are concluded, he maintained that determining the technical cause of the incident is the responsibility of regulators, scientists and engineers.

However, he insisted that the safety and welfare of the affected people must remain the immediate priority.

"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," he said.

He concluded by calling for environmental justice and responsible stewardship of the nation's natural resources, stressing that no community should be left to suffer in silence.

"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," Lulu-Briggs stated.