NOSDRA orders Shell to pay $3.6 billion to Niger Delta communities

oil spill in one Niger Delta community; credit: desastre.eu

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has directed Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) to pay $3.6 billion to Niger Delta communities affected by the spill from the company’s offshore facility at the Bonga oil field in 2011.

At the time, in 2011, it was reported that an operational failure at the SNEPCO’s facility had resulted in the oil spill incident, which discharged 40,000 barrels of oil into the Atlantic Ocean.

The subsequent damage was also said to have been felt by up to 168,000 fishermen and 350 communities in Delta and Bayelsa states.

In December 2014, the federal house of representatives and NOSDRA had recommended a compensation of $3.96 billion for victims of the incident.

The Nation reports that NOSDRA’s Director-General, Sir Peter Idabor, has written a new letter to the oil firm, directing it to obey the sanction imposed in 2014 for the damage done to the natural resources and means of livelihood by the spill since 2011.

In a statement issued in Abuja by the Head/ Deputy Director, Public Affairs Unit of NOSDRA, in Abuja, Idabor also stated that Shell did not make any attempt to provide relief materials for the shoreline fishing communities with respect to the acute and chronic impact of the crude oil on the environment.

Promising sanctions should Shell fail to comply with the new order, the statement added: “Meanwhile, by virtue of the latest reminder on the notification of sanction on the spill incident, NOSDRA has directed SNEPCO to pay the said fine and compensation, or face the legal machinery available to the Agency to ensure its compliance.”

Story: The Nation