A House of Representatives member, Mr Douye Diri has said that he would pursue reforms that would reverse the exploitation of the Niger Delta region.
Diri stated this at a news conference in Abuja.
He spoke on the fire incident which occurred early July at an oil facility owned by Agip Oil Company at Azuzuama Local Government Area in Bayelsa, and claimed 14 lives.
He said that the Azuzuama tragedy was the latest in a long history of such waste of lives and property in the area.
A House of Representatives member, Mr Douye Diri has said that he would pursue reforms that would reverse the exploitation of the Niger Delta region.
Diri stated this at a news conference in Abuja.
He spoke on the fire incident which occurred early July at an oil facility owned by Agip Oil Company at Azuzuama Local Government Area in Bayelsa, and claimed 14 lives.
He said that the Azuzuama tragedy was the latest in a long history of such waste of lives and property in the area.
He pointed out that the Niger Delta was on the brink of environmental catastrophe as a combination of factors conspired to devastate the region.
According to Diri, the treatment of communities affected by oil spills in Niger Delta is in stark contrast to what obtains in other jurisdictions.
“Apart from taking measures to contain the spill, British Petroleum, has also incurred costs amounting to 54.06 billion dollars since 2010, as a consequence of Deep Water Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico over the past five years," he said.
Diri explained that the money would go to the U.S. Government, affected states, businesses and the communities, but lamented that such approach to the issue was far from what obtained in Nigeria.
He disclosed that he was currently working on bills to combat the “reckless and criminal conduct’’ of oil companies.
“The oil industry needs firm structures in place to monitor its appetite for uninhibited profiteering," he said.
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