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The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) to condunct proper clean-up of the Ekole River and environment polluted by the oil spill from its facility in Bayelsa State.
The incident occurred on March 31 from the SPDC’s manifold at Otuokpoti and impacted communities in the Ogbia and Yenagoa Local Government Areas of the state along the Ekole River.
ERA/FoEN in its field report released by Alagoa Morris, Head of Field Operations, Bayelsa State Office, implored the SPDC to embark on a comprehensive remediation of the river and the devastated flora and fauna, while preventing fire outbreak at the spill site.
He emphasized that the people of the areas had the right to a general satisfactory environment favourable to their development as enshrined under Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He further advised that the Joint Investigation Visit to be conducted on the incident “should be devoid of the usual industry politics of predetermined results to be forced into the JIV.”
He added: “Shell should carry out proper clean-up of all impacted environment along the Ekole River and around the spill site promptly, no matter the cause of spill.
“All stakeholders, including community representatives in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), should be given a copy of the signed JIV Report at the site in line with industry practice. There is need for relief materials for victims along the Ekole River, no matter the cause of spill. The innocent must not suffer for the crime of others, where any such spill is declared to be caused by third party.
“Shell should take full responsibility of protection of its facilities. This is even more so as there are revelations that some unscrupulous Shell staff and contractors sponsor third-party interference oil spills.”
He described as unacceptable a situation whereby industry regulators and facility owners were taking photographs at the spill site and community representatives were prevented from doing same.
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