Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited disclosed on Tuesday that it has halted oil shipments via its Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline in the coastal Rivers State following a spill.

The pipeline, which transports crude oil south to the Rumuekpe manifold for export via the Bonny terminal, experienced the spill in the early hours of Monday in the Ikata community in the Ahoada East district of the state.

Community members and leaders of an environmental volunteer network, the Youth and Environmental Advocacy Centre, initially detected the spill.

Renaissance, owner of a former Shell onshore subsidiary which operates the pipeline, has halted production into the pipeline and taken measures to minimise potential environmental damage, a spokesperson said in a statement sent to Reuters.

While Renaissance did not disclose the cause or scale of the spill, YEAC-Nigeria said it was likely due to third-party interference, with crude oil spreading into the surrounding environment.

The indigenous oil and gas company added that it has notified government regulators and is coordinating a joint investigation with regulatory bodies and the local community.

Persistent oil spills and pipeline vandalism plague Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger River delta, causing pollution that harms local communities and ecosystems, and frequently disrupting oil production.

Volunteers who visited the site of the Okordia-Rumuekpe spill found evidence of excavation and vandalism on the pipeline, said Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, a YEAC-Nigeria director.

Dumnamene said a visit by volunteers to the scene on Monday revealed that vandals allegedly excavated the ground and vandalised the 14-inch pipe along the Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline right of way.

He said the affected pipeline was spewing crude oil into the environment, destroying farmlands.