Amnesty International and the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) are calling on petroleum giant, Shell, to pay an initial $1 billion for the cleanup of two oil spills that have devastated the fishing village of Bodo located in the Niger Delta. The two groups announced their release of a 48-page report outlining the devastation incurred in the Niger Delta by two major Shell oil spills in 2008, which have never been cleaned up. The two oil spills, which were caused by faults in the pipelines, have destroyed the village's ecosystem and source of food and employment. Damage to fisheries and farmlands resulting from the oil spills has lead to food shortages along with rising prices and unemployment rates. “Before the spill, life was easy. The people could live from the catch of fish… After the spill, everything was destroyed,” a local fisherman told Amnesty. Despite recording a $7.2 billion profit from July to September of this year, Shell offered the village of Bodo 50 bags of rice, beans, sugar and tomatoes as relief for the 2008 oil spills. The first spill, which began on August 28, 2008, leaked oil into the swamp in Bodo until it was stopped on November 7, 2008. According the Shell, 1,640 barrels of oil were spilt, although an independent estimate puts the number at nearly 4,000 barrels. The second spill began on December 7, 2008 and took 10 weeks to be stopped. “The facts here are simple, two spills, both of them the company's fault, both left to flow for weeks before being stopped, neither cleaned up although three years have passed. There can be no excuses. By any standard, this is a corporate failure,” stated Patrick Naagbanton, CEHRD's coordinator. Shell claims that the oil spills were a result of sabotage, a claim that is strongly refuted by both Amnesty and the CEHRD. “Shell frequently says that most oil spills are caused by sabotage. This claim has been strongly disputed by the communities and NGOs who point out that the process of collecting data on oil spills is flawed. Even at Bodo, where it is accepted the spills are Shell's fault, the company appears to be using sabotage as an excuse for its failures to comply with Nigerian law and regulations – which require the company to promptly clean up and pay compensation. This is a completely untenable position,” asserted Aster van Kregten, Amnesty's researcher for Nigeria. Due to years of failing to acquire adequate relief and compensation from Shell, the Bodo community brought their case to the United Kingdom's courts earlier this year. The case remains ongoing. BM
