By Sebastine Obasi

Five weeks after a Dutch court in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled in favour of Mr.Friday Akpan, a farmer, whose 47 fish ponds were polluted by the Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC oil spill, he is yet to be paid for the damages.

Akpan, a native of Ikot Ada Udo, in IkotAbasi, Local Government Area of AkwaIbom State, told Vanguard exclusively that the spill not only paralyzed his business, but also affected the well being of his family. “It paralyzed my business and affected the well being of my family. None of my children is a graduate because I couldn’t send them to the university,” he said.

The district court in The Hague said SPDC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, must compensate Akpan, but dismissed four other claims filed against the Dutch parent company, by farmers in Goi, Rivers State and Oruma, Bayelsa State.

Akpan told Vanguard that each of the fish ponds, about 20 by 30 metres in diameter, was stuck with 3,000 fingerlings and during harvest time prior to the pollution, he sold each fish for at least N5,000 because they were very big.

The farmer recalled that he expanded his ponds business through a facility from the agriculture board before disaster struck, saying, “I started with three ponds, after which I invited the State Agricultural Development Programme for inspection. The ADP recommended I applied for a loan, which was approved by the Agricultural Loans Board. The loan was used to enlarge the fish ponds to 47.”

However, he lamented that not long after the expansion programme, the spill occurred and wiped away his source of livelihood, thus putting him in huge debts.

Akpan, a 52-year-old father of 12 children, said though he was very happy with the judgment because it would help him to repay his debts, he is eager to see that it is implemented.

“The spill damaged 47 fish ponds, killed all the fish and rendered the ponds useless. Since then I have been living by God’s grace, and on the help of good Samaritans. After three months, I will forward my claims through my lawyers, Chima Williams and Channa Samkalden,” he said.

As at press time, the Public Affairs unit of SPDC, refused to comment on the issue despite asking for questions, which Vanguard sent to them by electronic mail.

The Judgment

In its judgment the Hague court said,”Shell Nigeria should and could have prevented this sabotage in an easy way. This is why the district court has sentenced Shell Nigeria to pay damages to the Nigerian plaintiff.”

In his reaction, Vice President, Environment, Royal Dutch Shell, Mr. Allard Castelein, said that Shell would negotiate the amount of damages with Akpan, but that an appeal could postpone the outcome of the talks.