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The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) through field monitoring has recorded the death of 14 persons while several others were burnt along Agip’s Tebidabe? Clough Creek pipeline at a damaged section of the pipeline during a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV). It has conducted field visits to the sites and documented the tragic incident which occurred on the 9th July 2015. Such incidence is not new in the operations of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company [NAOC] but is becoming a recurring issue needing attention.
Before we turn to the incident which claimed several lives in 2015, perhaps more pathetic is the Agip Ozochi Tragedy which claimed at least 7 workers attempting to clear a major spill by a state of the art technology of spade and bucket. The spillage occurred in early June 1995 and eventually 7 persons were roasted while clearing oil spills by spade and bucket. When the spill occurred, Agip reacted by contacting DAEWOO, a contracting firm for the clean up. The firm in turn hired some 20 unskilled labourers from Ozochi, Odua, and without any supervision from
Agip or DAEWOO and without any training and proper clean up kits were mobilized to site on 25 June. As instructed, they dug pits which they transferred the crude oil into in order to set it ablaze later. By noon during a short break one of the crew decided to smoke a cigarette.
He struck a match and the entire spillage site erupted in flames. 14 of the labourers were instantly trapped in the inferno, and 5 men died on the spot. The four unhurt labourers working some 100 metres away carried the injured to the nearest community 10 kilometres away and two of the injured later died in the community. The seven injured were later admitted at Ahoada General Hospital.
