Prominent Rivers State leader Dumo Lulu Briggs has called for an urgent and coordinated response to the environmental crisis affecting Bille Community, describing the situation as a public safety, public health and livelihood emergency.
Lulu Briggs, the National Democratic Congress governorship candidate in Rivers State, said the incident must not be treated as an ordinary environmental complaint because of its possible impact on residents, water sources, fishing activities and community life.
He expressed sympathy with affected families, fishermen, women, children and community institutions, saying no resource producing community should be left in fear while investigations continue.
He urged the federal government, Rivers State Government, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, the National Emergency Management Agency, Degema Local Government Council, Bille Community leaders and relevant operators to immediately establish a joint emergency response mechanism.
According to him, the immediate priorities should include protecting lives, supplying clean water, providing medical support, identifying and stopping the source of the hazard, releasing scientific findings in clear language and ensuring remediation and compensation where liability is established.
Lulu Briggs said the moment demands transparent science, practical relief and accountability, not speculation or political theatre. He said the people of Bille deserve to know what happened, what risks they face, what is being done and who will take responsibility.
He also called for a broader review of abandoned wells, ageing flowlines, obsolete pumps, pipelines and other oilfield assets across Rivers State and Nigeria, warning that old infrastructure should not remain a hidden threat to host communities.
While declining to prejudge the cause of the incident, he said regulators, scientists and engineers must be allowed to carry out independent investigations, while authorities must immediately protect the people and bring the hazard under control.
