Ibeno residents decry leakage of ExxonMobil septic tank in Akwa Ibom

Residents of Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom have decried the leakage of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN), a Subsidiary of ExxonMobil septic tank in the process area of the company.
The people made their separate views in an interview with the newsmen in Ibeno on Friday, saying that the development had caused hardship to the people of the community.

The people said that the waste from the crude oil from Mobil septic tank had killed ecological system in the areas including the fishes, aquatic and other sea birds in the high sea.

Mr Victor Akpan, a fisherman in Ibeno, described the situation as “Worrisome and unfortunate’’, saying that the leakage of the company’s septic tank had destroyed the ecosystem of the community.

“ExxonMobil septic tank is leaking to the gutter and the gutter leads to the high sea and the waste from the crude oil has kills aquatic animals and fishes in the communities,’’ he said.

Akpan said that the four core oil communities are still suffering from effect of the recent oil spill in the area.
He said, “the liquid from the toxic tank is a waste which the communities are suffering because it destroys ecological environment of the host community.

“The core communities of Mobil are mostly fishermen who do their business in the high sea and now we hardly catch fish because of leakages of Mobil septic tank.’’

Also speaking, Chief John Etim, a fisherman in Ibeno said that the waste from the septic tank contained toxic which had caused environmental hazard to the host communities.

Etim called on the Management of Mobil to repair their tanks to forestall further occurrence of leakages in the septic tank in the area.

He said that the company does not take care of their host community since the inception of ExxonMobil.
He said that incessant oil spill from Mobil Facility had destroyed the community land and called on Mobil to pay adequate compensation to the affected communities.

Etim called on the management of Mobil to thoroughly clean up the oil spill which occurred on June 29, in Mkpanak in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom.

He called on the Federal Government to come to their aid, saying that fishermen are“ terribly affected’’ and idle as a result of the incessant oil spill in the state.

When contacted, Mr Akaninyene Esiere, Manager, Public and Government Affairs, Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT), refuse to comment and referred our correspondent to Mobil Headquarter in Lagos.