Members of Bayelsa State House of Assembly have called on billionaire businessman, Mike Adenuga and his Consolidated Oil Limited to take full responsibility for an offshore gas facility explosion currently posing serious health and environmental concerns to the people of nearby, Sangana community and surrounding towns in Brass Local Government Council Area.
The State lawmakers led by the Speaker Abraham Ingobere vowed to lead a protest against Consolidated Oil Limited.
The lawmakers reached the position following a motion the member representing Brass Constituency One, Daniel Charles and others.
The motion drew attention to the hardship faced by the affected people.
Narrating the incident, Charles said a gas explosion on the 1st of November, 2021 at an oil rig; Adriatic 1 owned by Shelf Drilling Company and contracted to Consolidated Oil Limited, is the reason for the suffering of people around Sangana town and other coastal communities in the the Gulf of Guinea area in Bayelsa State.
The lawmakers lamented the deficiency in the Nigerian laws that seem to allow oil companies to treat local communities in the Niger Delta Region with disdain.
At the end of an extensive deliberation, the lawmakers arrived at three separate resolutions calling on the Federal and State Governments to immediately send relief materials, mobilize experts to carry out repairs and remediation work, and asking their elected representatives in the National Assembly to take up the matter.