A crude oil tapping location along the Trans Niger Delta Pipeline, which is managed by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, has been discovered by young people from the Nonwa, Uedume community in the Tai council of Rivers State, Nigeria.
Young people employed as pipeline surveillance contractors, according to Fyneface Dumnamene, executive director of the Youth and Environmental Advocacy Centre, discovered the tap.
During a site visit with other parties, Dumnamene said that two 33,000-liter tankers could potentially be loaded simultaneously from the tap location.
“Sometime last week, I was invited as an environmentalist to come and observe what was discovered. From what they told me, the people who found this point are the youths working as pipeline surveillance contractors in the area.
“They had to involve the local government Chairman who led the team to the Trans-Niger Delta pipeline in Nonwa Uedume in Tai LGA, and getting there, we saw that the criminals connected the pipe that is about 1.5 millimetres to the main pipeline (Trans Niger-Delta pipeline) and the channel was laid out to about some kilometres away from the point where it helps them to load at least two of 33,000 litres of tanker every night. And the pipe is said to have been there for over seven years.
“And then looking at the environment as I was called to observe, I could see pollution around the area but not as much as oil extraction,” he was cited as saying by The Guardian.
To prevent any further harm, Dumnamene has revealed that Shell has sent an observer to the scene and is working to remove the tap on the pipe.