With fresh technical findings indicating the presence of potentially hazardous gases and pollution in the community’s air, water and sediment, the House of Representatives Committee on South-South Development Commission has ordered urgent intervention to end the prolonged gas seepage in Niger-Delta communities including Bille in Rivers State and Odidi Federated in Delta State.

The committee’s Chairman, Julius Pondi, made the demand on Thursday during an urgent stakeholders’ engagement on the Bille gas seepage and a legislative hearing on the Odidi oil spill in Abuja.

Pondi said the two incidents underscored the environmental and developmental challenges confronting oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta region, where residents continue to bear the consequences of environmental degradation despite the region’s contribution to the national economy.

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The committee’s concern over Bille, he said, was heightened by its engagement with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency on July 30, 2026, noting that it was unacceptable that the gas seepage had continued for about nine months without a clear solution.

“The implications are serious. Beyond the potential risks to health, safety and the environment, the incident has imposed severe economic hardship on the people of Bille.

“It is unacceptable for an incident of this magnitude to persist for so long without a clear, time-bound and effective resolution strategy,” he stated.

Pondi said Thursday’s engagement was intended to establish the facts surrounding the incident, assess the response by government agencies and operators, identify outstanding challenges and agree on practical and measurable steps towards resolving the crisis.

He stated that the committee expected comprehensive briefings from the operating company, NUPRC, NOSDRA and other relevant agencies on the cause, extent and current status of the seepage.

The representatives of Bille community were also allowed to present their concerns and outline the relief and interventions required.

“Most importantly, we want to move from prolonged discussion to concrete action and lasting resolution,” Pondi said.

Providing a technical briefing, a director of NOSDRA, Dr Yusuf Rigasa, said the agency had confirmed the presence of multiple gases, including hydrogen sulphide, methane, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide, at several locations in Bille, Degema Local Government Area of the state.

Rigasa said investigations established what he described as “multi-point subsurface gas bubbling” in different parts of the community, including the premises of the Government Primary and Secondary School, saying the school had subsequently been abandoned, while gas bubbling was also confirmed around waterways and mangrove areas.

According to him, NOSDRA conducted an air-quality assessment on December 6, 2025, across 19 stations and recorded elevated concentrations of the aforementioned pollutants.

He explained that hydrogen sulphide has a characteristic rotten-egg smell, while methane is highly flammable and potentially explosive, adding that the concentrations recorded during the assessment exceeded applicable regulatory thresholds.

He added that the agency’s reference laboratory analysed samples collected on December 16, 2025, and detected elevated levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater, surface water and sediment samples.

The findings, after sample analysis by the agency’s reference laboratory, “indicated that parts of Bille’s soil, surface water and groundwater had been affected by pollution.”

However, Rigasa said NOSDRA had not established that the gases were from a hydrocarbon source or linked to any particular oil and gas operator.

He said the agency’s technical presentation to the Minister of Petroleum Resources indicated that “the source of the seepage was probably biogenic, resulting from the degradation of organic matter.”

The NOSDRA official said the agency had compared the Bille situation with the Lake Nyos gas disaster in Cameroon in 1986, stressing the need for the incident to be treated with utmost seriousness.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has licensed the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) to be facilitating the trading and clearing of petroleum liquids.

Expectations are that the development would deepen price discovery, transparency and investment in Nigeria’s energy market.

The approval provides LCFE with the regulatory foundation to establish a structured marketplace for petroleum liquids, linking the physical petroleum market with Nigeria’s capital market through regulated trading, clearing and settlement infrastructure.

The licence was unveiled in Abuja on Tuesday at a stakeholder event attended by senior representatives of the NMDPRA, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), S&P Global Ratings, the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), Alliance Law Firm, and other capital and energy market operators.

Already, no fewer than ten petroleum liquid traders have committed to participating in the exchange, providing an initial pool of market participants for the development of the new trading ecosystem.

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At the event, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LCFE, Akin Akeredolu-Ale, said the approval marked a defining moment for Nigeria’s commodities market, noting that the infrastructure required to support petroleum liquids trading was falling into place.

He said, “The issuance of this licence marks a defining moment for Nigeria’s commodities market. It gives us the regulatory foundation to bring petroleum liquids into a transparent, structured, and technology-enabled marketplace, connecting the physical energy market with Nigeria’s capital market.”

Akeredolu-Ale pointed out that the emerging market architecture would incorporate technology-enabled trading, two-way quotations, contract trading and settlement, as well as licensed collateral managers to strengthen oversight and risk management.

The development comes as Nigeria’s petroleum industry undergoes significant structural changes following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), full deregulation of the downstream market and the commencement of operations at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP).

On his part, the Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Rabiu Umar, noted that the authority’s priority was to create a predictable, equitable and transparent regulatory environment capable of attracting investment and supporting sustainable growth in the energy sector.

According to him, the PIA, market deregulation and the emergence of large-scale domestic refining capacity have fundamentally altered Nigeria’s position in the global energy landscape.

Also speaking, the Director-General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, commended LCFE for pursuing the initiative, describing it as a transformative opportunity for Nigeria’s commodities and capital markets.

On her part, S&P Global Ratings’ Managing Director, Africa Research & Analytics and Country Head, South Africa, Samera Mensah, stressed the importance of credible market infrastructure, transparent pricing benchmarks and credit ratings in building investor confidence.

She added that S&P’s reclassification of Nigeria from a frontier market to an emerging market aligns with the Federal Government’s target to expand the economy to $1tn.

Similarly, the Division Head, Business Services & Client Experience at CSCS, Onome Komolafe, assured stakeholders that the financial market infrastructure provider would support the new market through its depository, clearing and settlement capabilities, including digital asset recording.

In his remarks, the Founder and Managing Partner of Alliance Law Firm, Uche Obi, described the licence as a major legal and regulatory milestone that underscores the regulatory and institutional capacity backing the platform.

Market watchers have described the NMDPRA approval as a landmark step in LCFE’s broader vision to transform Nigeria’s commodities landscape and position the exchange as a premier energy trading hub in Africa.

The Vision First initiative of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has continued to impact lives across Nigeria with more than 10,000 people benefitting from outreaches since its inception in 2022.

The latest outreach holds this week in Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State.

“Vision First is more than an outreach programme—it is a promise. A promise that quality healthcare should not be limited by geography, income, or circumstance,” SNEPCo Managing Director Ronald Adams said in an address read by General Manager Corporate Relations, Abubakar Ahmed at the opening ceremony yesterday.

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Vision First which is part of the Health-in-Motion programme of NNPC/SNEPCo, takes eyecare to underserved communities, with the health team also providing cardiovascular screening, consultations and treatment for mild and chronic illnesses, laboratory tests and pharmaceutical services and distributing insecticide-treated nets.

Hundreds of people in Badagry and from adjoining communities are attending the 6th edition of Vision First which is being hosted in collaboration with Kolmarg Eyesight Foundation, the Lagos State Ministry of Health, and Badagry Local Government Council.

Ron said: “As we celebrate the impact of this outreach, let us remember that behind every consultation, every treatment, and every pair of glasses provided is a human story. It is a mother who can care for her family with confidence, a father who can continue to provide, a student who can see clearly in the classroom, and a child whose future has become a little brighter.”

Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), Olanarenwaju Igandan said in remarks delivered by Advisor, Community Relations Mr. Usman Mohammed Bello: “I urge parents, elders, workers, traders, teachers and all residents to participate actively and encourage others to do the same. Early detection and treatment of health conditions can significantly improve quality of life and prevent avoidable complications.”

Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, District 5, Dr Asiyanbi Oladapo and Chairman Badagry Local Government Council Babatunde Hunpe commended NNPC and SNEPCo for their longstanding support for the programme. Executive Director Kolmarg Eyesight Foundation, implementing partner of Vision First, Prof. Olukorede Adenuga advised the people to take advantage of the outreach as “a simple intervention can make a profound difference.”

Supported by NNPC and co-venturers, SNEPCo has implemented social investment projects across Nigeria in health, education, and human capital development among others, since its establishment in 1993. The company continues to power progress in Nigeria by efficiently producing oil and gas in deepwater, developing human capital, promoting Nigerian content, and improving lives.