Oil Spill: Months After, Bayelsa Community Cries Of Neglect From SPDC

After over four months since the oil spill in a facility belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development company of Nigeria,SPDC at Agbura community of Yenagoa council area of Bayelsa state occurred,the community reports reaching us has said was still counting loses.

 Latest information reaching National Wire has it that save for the Bayelsa state Deputy Governor,Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo whose magnanimity through the donation of relief materials to the duo of Agbura and Otuokpoti communities of Yenagoa and Ogbia council areas who were adversely impacted upon by the spill,the oil major has not done anything meaningful towards alleviating the plight of the affected communities.

Speaking with National Wire in Yenagoa,the Obeneken(paramount) ruler of Agbura community, His Royal Highness,E.N Daufa(Ikile viii) stated that the oil major has been reluctant even in remediation activities in the area.

He lambasted Shell for abandoning the communities, saying that since the spill occurred,crops and aquatic lives were being seen decomposing on daily basis in the farms, swamps and surrounding creeks of the affected communities.

The monarch added that the greatest surprise to the communities was that,rather than consultations on possible ways of ending the recurrence of spills in the area, Shell has been in the habit of shirking the responsibilities expected of them when since the spill occurred, this is even as an NGO,stakeholders alliance for corporate accountability, SACA in its latest research has alerted that communities in and around sites of spills are vulnerable to numerous diseases and high rate of infants mortality.

“Since this spill happened,except the day one staff of Shell came visiting the site without even coming to inform the community of his presence,we’ve not seen any of them here”.

“But instead,Shell is saying that we caused the spill. But how did we cause the spill?

“They’re saying that we should find out those responsible for the spill. How do we then find them out?

“From Agbura here to Otuokpoti and the entire swamps,forests and surrounding creeks of all the nearby and even far away communities of the of this area,reports reaching us has it that crops,fishes and other aquatic lives are dying on daily bases”, the monarch said.

“This company has abandoned us. It was even at the instance of the deputy governor of the state that we’re able to meet with this company in government house,but up till now they’ve not done anything to ameliorate our suffering”, he added.