Business

Shell under fire over slow response to Bayelsa oil spills

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has come under criticism for its alleged slow response to multiple crude oil spills that have rocked the Diebu Creek in Peremabiri community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. SPDC has reportedly been operating in the area since 1957.

The reactions followed a recent field visit by the ERA/FoEN team led by the Programme Manager, Niger Delta Resource Centre, Comrade Alagoa Morris, with a team of newsmen, on October 11, 2023, following a save-a-soul call from the community about multiple spills along the Diebu creek.

Prior to the field visit, the community had informed Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) that Shell said a Joint Investigation Team [JIT] was to visit the site of the spill but failed to keep to the date promised, including the very date ERA/FoEN visited.

After two unkept appointments, the JIV only took place a day after the field visit by ERA/FoEN’s with Shell reportedly attributing one of the spills to equipment failure and the other tagged inconclusive.

Speaking to the team, the youth president of the community, Benjamin Ebinibo, expressed dissatisfaction over Shell’s response to spill issues.

According to him, the people of Peremabiri are not known for sabotaging crude oil pipelines and so the leak must have been from faulty Shell equipment.

Describing the plight of the women of the community, the assistant women leader of Peremabiri, Favour Morgan, lamented the reccurring spills in their community, and regretted that it has destroyed their environment and collapsed fishing and farming activities which is their primary source of livelihood.

“Our women who are fishing and farming are unhappy with what is happening to our land and water. This is our means of livelihood. Our traps for fish and crayfish have been affected by the crude oil. Even our fishing nets no longer catch fish, our plantain and cassava farms too have been affected by the oil spill.”

She called on Shell to rise up to its responsibilities. “We are begging Shell and the government to come and clean up the environment. If they fail to come and do the needful, we the women will take action against them. When oil spills occur they hardly respond in time. And this is not good. If they had their mothers here they will come and do the needful instantly. The survival of the people depends on the environment,” she said.

On his part, the chairman of the community, Basil Young, said the people of Peremabiri, cited neglect suffered by the community as host community in terms absence of basic amenities and negative impacts of the current oil spill incidents.

He revealed that since the inception of Shell operations in 1957, the community has suffered several levels of negligence with insignificant benefits provided by the company, despite the huge revenue generated from the oil wells situated in the community.

“It is a pity that since 1957 Shell has been operating in this community, we don’t have anything. No social amenities. We have a cottage hospital, but if you go to that place [the cottage hospital], you will pity the community. No potable water, coastal erosion is eating off the community.

“The spill has affected the community economically, socially and otherwise. Our poor mothers, wives, children survive through this swamp and the river. We ought to have received relief materials. This spill has been there for some days now; no Shell staff, nobody. We are all here on our own.”

He appealed to Shell to clamp its leaking pipeline and to restore the environment. He called on the government at all levels to intervene in the matter to ensure peace and order in Peremabiri community.

Reacting to the spill incident, the Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Chima Williams said, “We have it on record that the promise by Shell to visit the spill site for JIV on October 10 and 11, 2023 did not happen. Rather, we were duly informed that the JIV took place a day after the field visit by the ERA/FoEN led team; on the 12th October.”

Williams further stated that while booming crude oil to prevent spreading on the surface of water is commendable, such actions do not prevent the soluble elements of crude oil to have chemical reaction within the marine ecosystem, adding that this is why effective and prompt clean up should follow booming of crude oil in any marine ecosystem.

READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE