The National Human Rights Commission has pledged to work towards restoring the livelihoods of residents of Bile community in Rivers State, following concerns over persistent gas leakage in the area.

The Assistant Chief Investigation Officer of the NHRC, Zainab Hamma, gave the assurance in Abuja on Wednesday at the presentation of a documentary on the community by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa.

Hamma, who represented the Executive Chairman of the commission, said the NHRC would examine the issues raised by the community and work towards safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of the residents.

She said, “On behalf of the Executive Chairman of the Commission, I want to thank them for the efforts to reinforce this issue, so that we can look into it and ensure that the livelihoods of the people in the community are restored.

“We remain committed to ensuring that the lives and livelihoods of all Nigerians are safeguarded.”

The assurance came against the backdrop of complaints by residents over persistent gas leakage, which they said had continued despite visits by relevant agencies and environmental assessments.

The Vice President of the Bile Kingdom Youth Foundation, Timothy Agunbiade, said agencies had conducted soil sampling and air-quality tests in the community but had yet to resolve the leakage.

He said the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency had visited the community about four times, while the NHRC had also visited on some occasions.

Agunbiade said, “Ever since then, they have been coming and going. NOSDRA has come to Bile for like four times. NHRC has come to Bile sometimes and all and all, until today, we are still experiencing the gas seepage, leakage rather. And there’s no solution yet.”

He appealed to the government to focus on stopping the leakage rather than providing food or financial assistance to residents.

“What we are asking the government for is a stop to this issue that is on ground. Not any kind of giving us money or giving us food. It’s just like we are being fed to wait to die,” he said.

“We need this problem to stop. And when it is stopped, we can now talk of remediation or any other remedy that you can talk about in the health section and all the rest.”

He urged the government to urgently halt the gas leakage before remediation and other measures to address its environmental and health consequences are undertaken.

The Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, Akinbode Oluwafemi, called for urgent measures by the government and relevant authorities to address the situation and protect residents of the community.

Oluwafemi recommended that the authorities “establish and enforce a binding timetable assigning clear duties, deadlines, firm commitments and reporting obligations to every relevant agency and operator.”

He said the costs of managing the emergency should not continue to be borne by residents of Bille.

The PUNCH reported in May 2026 that gas emissions in Bille had been occurring since October 2025, describing it as an incident that had lasted about eight months.