The Ebekpi community of Esit Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State was on Saturday morning thrown into panic as a gas wellhead operated by Savannah Energy Limited erupted.
The gas leakage, it was gathered, lasted for over five hours, as the industry workers at the facility ran for safety.
A fire service vehicle was seen parked around the company in case of any eventuality.
The Village Head of Ebekpi, Chief Ama Bassey Joseph, who spoke with newsmen that visited the site, urged relevant authorities to intervene by checking the level of environmental damages caused by the leakage for possible compensation.
However, the youths of the community barricaded the company in anger, waiting for the management of Savannah Energy Limited to explain to them what happened.
“We are concerned about the health, safety of our people. Our air, the environment is polluted due to all these activities. We want the management of Savannah Energy Limited to come and explain to us what happened,” the youths said.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that the company was conducting a wellhead test but did not inform the community about it.
A source said, “The only thing is that the company was doing a wellhead test. They made the mistake of not informing host communities of the impending test run.”
