About two months after the infamous Bonga Oil Spill, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) may have concluded plans to take legal action against Anglo-Dutch oil giant; Shell Petroleum Development Company over environmental damage by the Bonga spill that has affected over 70 communities in the Niger Delta area.
About two months after the infamous Bonga Oil Spill, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) may have concluded plans to take legal action against Anglo-Dutch oil giant; Shell Petroleum Development Company over environmental damage by the Bonga spill that has affected over 70 communities in the Niger Delta area.
Confirming this last weekend in Warri, Delta state, NIMASA’s Director General, Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi said that the agency has assembled a team of environmentalists and maritime lawyers led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr. Olisa Agbakoba in its battle to ensure that Shell pays compensation to the affected communities.
Lambasting Shell for allegedly not living up to its responsibility and acting unsatisfactorily during the spill, the NIMASA boss disclosed that at a point, Shell was trying to put the blame on a third party spill, a claim that was later discovered to be false as analysis of sample taken from both the so called third party spill and the spill from the Bonga are one and the same.
“We have set up the teams made up of environmentalists and of lawyers led by Olisa Agbakoba and they are in contact with the communities and they are working with NIMASA’s marine environment department , the marine safety department as well as the entire management of NIMASA.
“We have given them the go ahead to pursue this case to a logical conclusion, the fact are there that Shell erred, there are facts that the spill from Bonga is the spill that affected the communities, there are also fact that Shell was not alive to its responsibility.
“There are also facts that Shell treated this matter with levity, there are facts the way Shell handled the matter is stereo-typical of their behaviour over the years and they must account for their action.”
According to him, “it is only this country that things like this can happen, the entire eco-system is destroyed, why should people come into this country, destroy our heritage, our eco-system in the name of business and go scot free, .
He added that leaders from the affected communities have met while legal presentations from the communities have also been passed on to the Agbakoba led team of lawyers.
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