By BENJAMIN NJOKU

“We are crying out to the federal government and the international community to come to our aid, and perhaps, to be aware of the great injustice that  the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company has done to our lands. They refused to employ our children when they invaded our lands and today, their oil is constituting a major threat to our existence. We are not happy and that’s why we are crying for help.”

These were the heavy words of the traditional ruler of Bilabiri community, one of the communities affected by the Bonga oil spill that occurred  last December, in Bayelsa State, His Royal Highness, Jacob Ajuju.

The royal father led a 12-man delegation to Lagos, recently as part of the move to attract global sympathy and also, to register their grievances over Shell’s inability to clean up the oil spill few months after its occurrence  in the coastal communities of Bayelsa State.

The spillage, which is  adjudged to be one of the worst in 10 years, is said to have culminated into gross environmental pollution, destruction of sea lives and diminishing quality of soil texture of the affected communities.

According to the aggrieved delegates, “up till today, Shell is not doing anything to clean up the spill. They claim that it was not their responsibility to do so.” The people’s outburst however showcased the bottled up anger in them as they recounted their losses following the spillage.
For the delegates who claimed to be representing 12 communities out of the 75 communities affected by the spillage, apart from wrecking overwhelming havoc on their aquatic lives and farmlands, the oil spill constitutes a major threat to their existence.

Contrary to the claims by the spokesman for Shell, Mr. Precious Okolobo in one of his interviews that the Bonga leak had been cleaned up, the delegates said the oil spill are still there.

“As I’m speaking with you today, we still having the oil spill all over the place.  It’s very hazardous to our health. We are farmers by occupation, our fishing equipment have been destroyed  by the spill. The spill has a very offensive humid spell that affects the atmosphere,”the leaders of the delegates  narrated.

Continuing,  he added “Our children are no longer breathing very well, just as they have developed whooping cough resulting from the spill. Our plants and fishes are dying. Even our waterways, the creeks and along the coast are being affected too because of the fact that  the oil has sank into the soil.

We have been crying out to shell since the spillage occurred in December last year, to come to our aid to no avail. Only recently, they promised to hire contractors to do the clean up.”

Ajuju  however, called on SPDC to endeavour to compensate the affected communities adequately, arguing that cleaning up the spill should not be the major priority of the company for now.  He accused SPDC of  using money to entice his people so as to allow the clean up to be done, without adequately  compensating them.

To him, he saw no reason for such ugly practice, insisting that no clean up should be done in the affected communities without adequately compensating the people.

“Cleaning the spill should not be the major priority for now. Shell should compensate my people  first and foremost  and do well to send medical teams to treat them before any clean up can be done in the affected communities.”  he stated.

While calling on the SPDC to fully accept responsibility for the damages precipitated by the spill, the Chairman of the Kur communities, Mr Victor Disi warned the oil multinational giant not to embark on clean up activities until compensation and relief materials are provided for the people.

“We are crying out to the government to help us as it seems that both the government and Shell have abandoned those affected by the Bonga oil spill.” said Disi

He however appealed to the president to come to their aid, adding that if urgent steps are not taken to make peace with the affected communities, they will be forced to take action that they deemed proper against the SPDC’s operation in their respective localities.

The counsel to the  affected communities in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, George Oguntade(SAN) while  expressing anger over what he termed as the lackadaisical attitude of SPDC, regarding the Bonga spill said he would do everything possible to ensure that justice is done to the people.

He disclosed that in the next couple of weeks, the affected communities will be heading  to the court both in Nigeria and outside the country to seek for redress.

His words, “my duty is to ensure that justice is done to the people. Across the world, compensations  are usually paid to all those communities which are affected by the oil spillage. The case in Nigeria must not be different. We want to tell shell that they can’t get away with this act of injustice in Nigeria.”

“We wrote to the Head office of SPDC in London, and also its Lagos office some two weeks ago. Up till today, they have not responded to our letter. It’s clear that they have received the letter. Their lawyer came in from London, last week to discuss with us. Right now, we are gathering the evidence which we need to establish the strongest case against the company in Nigeria.”

Some of the communities seriously affected are Okuntu, Ifoye Gbene, Okekiri Gbene, Agalakiri Gbene, Osain, Emlade Gbene, Pelebogouyou Sangha-Sargha Gbene, Soude-Ama, Okunpa Diegbegha-Gbene, Okuegbe Gbene. Others are: Okunagbo Serosu Zion, Arisibighe, Izuwugbene, Oboropolo, Gbene (I and 2) Igbe-Ama, Abalayo Gbene, Ade-Gbene Ollosimre and Oborom communities respectively.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact Shell spokesperson, Precious Okolobo for his comments, proved abortive as he was not picking up his calls.

It would be recalled that Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) recently advised Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) to provide palliatives for communities affected by the oil spill on its Bonga Offshore platform.

Bonga oil spill, which is adjudged to be one of the worst in 10 years, occurred four months after a major United Nations (UN) study said it may take Shell, Chevron and other oil multinationals 30 years and a whooping sum $1billion to effectively carry out a comprehensive cleaning of spills in the Niger Delta region.