Constance Meju
Oil and gas activities continue to leave trails of disaster in Niger Delta host communities with government keeping a blind eye as the people languish.
Since November 2025, oil and gas rich Bille Kingdom has been experiencing fire outbreaks from gas sipping to.the surface from underneath.
The coastal community that is home to at least five oil operators, once known for calmness is gripped by anxiety and gas bubbles from literally every corner of the community, destroying water sources, ending livelihoods, threatening homes and lives.
When a team of civil society activists visited the once serene community on 13 June, it met a people helplessly trying to understand what is going on.
The water bubbles as gas underneath the water fights to come up, emitting smelly poisonous vapour, that is threatening everything and person in that community. Nobody is sure of the source of the gas bubbles that increase by the day.
There are at least 368 points in the community according to the youth leader.
Earlier, 50 spots that sprang up in the community’s nursery and Primary School field after a rainfall caused panic and forced the closure of the school. Pupils were home while their counterparts in the state sat for last term’s examinations.
They were kept at home for their health and safety sake in the face of the gas bubbles which have continued to spread like an angry lion stirred from slumber.
While the bubbles spread, contaminating water sources, the people whose livelihoods are tied to water-fishing, seafood harvesting and selling, have been forced into begging.
The bubbling sea is no friend to fish and other aquatic life, and also a danger to fishermen.
The result is hunger, serious hunger and a lack of ability to fend for selves and family whereas the most basic element of life, water now goes to them at great cost.
A bag of sachet water which sells generally for N400 in other parts of Rivers State costs N1,500 and, to survive daily, a small family needs at least three to five bags- something the cash trapped Bille Community members cannot afford.
Forced to still use the gas contaminated water which, turns black only minutes after being fetched, the people are now at the mercy of diseases.
Persistent cough, stubborn rashes that break out as big boils, respiratory challenges, etc., have become the narrative in the troubled community from which Nigeria draws so much oil but gives almost nothing in return.
Those who are lucky to have friends and relatives in Port Harcourt or healthier neighbouring communities are already shifting but not all can move in a community with about 15000 persons.
Health facilities to adequately manage the emanating crisis are lacking, so is response from government and those representing the people in the public spaces.
and Niger Delta environmental justice activist Annkio Briggs listens
These burdens were unbundled as Bille women, led by the president of the Bille Women Forum, engaged with some civil society members in a trauma healing session tagged, ‘Tears for our Laughter,’ organized to heighten attention to the plight of the women by Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Center, in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, 24 June.
The women’s heart-wrenching lamentations painted a deep picture of suffering, anguish and hunger.
They said at least four to five people die daily in the community thanks to the gas.
They highlighted that pregnant and nursing mothers are at greater risk as well as the aged while, the children have become seriously endangered since the respiratory organs are majorly facing serious stress from the poisons bring released into the air in the community.
Their cry was for help-help in clearly defining where the gas is coming from and putting an end to it; cleaning up the environment, provision of clean water, food and healthcare to assist their survival.
Opening the session, Dr. Emem Okon, the executive director of Kebetkache said women cannot afford to look the other way while Bille burns.
“Women cannot afford to keep quiet over what is happening in Bille. Women have to continue to speak and take action until those responsible for the state of affair take or, are seen to take action to avoid an impending disaster”.
Drawing attention to the enormity of what is happening in the community, she stated: “Inhaling poisonous gas for over eight months; a school with over 50 bubbling spots, children being kept off school- we have to scream until they hear us”.
A very disturbed Dr. Emem Okon said the situation calls for more than diplomacy.
“Time for diplomacy is over. This is injury time.
“The government has to know that this is a matter of life and death. Fathers need to think of their children adequately. We are highly inflammable, and because we are inflammable, we can do anything.”
Niger Delta respected activist and environmental justice crusader, Ms Annkio Briggs told the women to brace up because what is happening is not new, but a pattern.
She said the problem is for the Nigerian government to solve and the duty of representatives of the people in government including, the local government leadership and the state governor to escalate to the federal government for necessary action.
“We have been on this fight for a very, very long time. The problem is government problem.
Government should solve this problem. You must call out our representatives in government, raise issue with the governor who should escalate it to the federal government and the oil operators. Call out the new operators. We want to know the names behind the new companies.”
She charged the women to unite and mobilize. “Moblize; this is a justified fight but it will not be easy. It requires unity and sacrifice. Be strong. Only the women can have the heart.
“Somebody must be held accountable. Bille belongs to you. Bille is a keg of fire,” Annkio admonished.
Also contributing, Dr. Prince Ekpere, Social Action team lead to Bille in March while giving insight on the gas bubbles, noted that the community is in a dire state.
“Houses were filthy because of the gas spews, there were cracks on buildings, some houses going under water”.
He urged the women not to be tired of calling out for justice.
“Do not be tired. Be undefeated, say your thoughts and brace up for the reality. Build your evidence and let the world know what is happening to you,” charged.
Civil society members present pledged solidarity with the Bille cause with calls on NOSDRA to release preliminary investigations, the oil operators in the community to quickly intervene, groups and international communities to help relieve the people of the evident huge hunger and attendant health disaster, and the federal government to urgently step in and do the needful.
Woman leader of Bille Community, Mrs. Precious Ibiada James summed the horror being inflicted on thepeople by the gas bubbles thus:
“Last year we lost a pregnant woman while in labour. From November last year when the gas bubble started, it has been from one sickness to another.
“The rate of death being recorded in the community is no longer normal-four to five daily. A lot of dead bodies are in the mortuary, a lot of children are with rashes, cough and parents are battling these unsuccessfully with drugs.
“My younger brother has been coughing for the last five months and he has been receiving treatment without success. Our water has been contaminated by the gas bubbles.
“Not everybody can afford pure water (sachet water). Am pleading to the house, it is not easy to solve this problem, we are going through a lot. A bag of pure water costs N1500 in Bille.
“A borehole dug in 2022 that did not produce water suddenly started spewing out water and gas, and now everywhere there is gas bubble. Last December, I travelled home to Bille and switched on the tap in my house.
“I perceived gas smell and began to choke. I was struggling to stand up.
“Next morning, I put on the tap again and same smell with evidence of gas vapour appeared whereas there was no cooking.
We need the international community to come in. NOSDRA has not told us anything.”
As things are, the women are living at the mercy of God. Even the civil society activists who visited Bille without nose masks reported respiratory health challenges. Bille situation calls for urgent attention.
