Agu Dawn, Abuja
The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), has said it is yet to establish any link between oil leaks and death fishes that float and litter the Atlantic coastline across the Niger Delta region.
The Director-General of NOSDRA, Mr. Idris Musa, said it was coordinating a multi-agency investigation, aimed at unraveling the cause of the reported massive death of fishes within the nation’s territorial waters and was looking beyond the oil industry.
Musa who held a live interactive session on Facebook,yesterday, said the investigation was carried out amid the COVID-19 lockdown.
He said officials of NOSDRA deployed from Warri, Yenagoa and Port Harcourt have conducted site visits to the Atlantic coastline in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states to collect water and fish samples for tests.
“NOSDRA carried out a reconnaissance of the area in Delta where we first got the report through a member of a non- governmental organisation.
There is no incident of oil spill within the area of reported dead fishes, notwithstanding that a few dead fishes were seen along the shoreline.
“The event of recent days where the death of fishes in large numbers make it expedient to look beyond oil spillage as the likely cause of death of fishes in such large numbers,” he said.
The DG said that the agency collected samples of water, sediments and some of the dead fishes for laboratory testing, and in doing so, brought on board other relevant government agencies that have mandate on the territorial waters.