Oil Firm, Fishermen at War in Rivers Over Spill

Akanimo Sampson

Oil Firm, Fishermen at War in Rivers Over Spill

LOCAL fishermen in Bonny, a bustling natural gas island of Rivers State, are locked in a battle with ExxonMobil, an American oil giant. The fishermen are accusing the oil major of what they described as ''a desperate attempt'' to cover up a fresh oil spill in the area.

According to the fishermen, ''a catastrophic oil spill occured last Saturday at ExxonMobil's Yoho oilfield location in Akwa Ibom state''. The fishermen are operating under the name, Organization of Fishermen, Sea food Dealers and Farmers in Niger Delta (OFSDF/ND).

Chairman of the group's board of trustees, Mr. Richard Abbey, on Monday claimed that the spill occurred around 4.30 - 5pm during the loading of a foreign vessel, Northstar, on Saturday June 19, 2010, when suddenly a burst from the host linking the Yoho field location, to the company’s Floating, Storage, Offloading, (FSO) tanker.

The spill, he insisted, has gradually spread to Amanam, Chevron oil field and the Bonny anchorage in Bonny Island, Rivers state.

He, however, disclosed that the American oil giant responded swiftly to the spillage, discharging two boats to curtail the flow but condemned the company’s decision to spread dispersant chemical on the sea, an action he said was intended to conceal any trace of the spill from the community and fishermen in order to avoid payment of necessary compensation to the two entities who are hit by the environmental disaster.

He argued, ''if one of the measures to tackle the spill is spreading dangerous dispersant chemical on the sea we are seriously against it because it is capable of endangering the lives of aquatic species on the sea, and do further harm to fishermen whose lives depend on the sea. The spread of the chemical itself is another crime added to the crude oil spill that has done enough ecological damage to the sea''.

Commenting on the effect of oil spill within the fishing area, Mr.Akpan Esuet a fisherman in the area, regretted that apart from its bad effect on the ecosystem, many fishermen, whose means of livelihood is tied to the ocean, are now without visible source of income.

Similarly, he noted, the multi-national oil company’s dispersant chemical sprayed on the affected waters has adversely affected the people, as indigenes of the area now complain of eye problems from the wind blowing from the Atlantic Ocean.

ExxonMobil, he said, is yet to own up to the occurrence, but added that the desperate attempt to conceal the spill is not only seen as evil and dangerous but a desperate attempt to shy away from responsibility.

The fishermen are calling on relevant authorities to warn the oil company as the alleged deliberate attempt to avoid the compensation of both the community and fishermen directly affected might be their greatest undoing.

They have decried the mode of settlement by transnational oil companies in the event of a spill. According to them when a spillage occurs, companies are always in the habit of settling only the host community, without realising that the fishermen who toil on the sea are the most affected.

Some of the fishermen who are lamenting over the development stated that majority of the fishermen who fish on the sea come from diverse ethnic groups and reside in fishing ports, so, they neither live in the community nor are they members of the community. In the event of a spill they are not allowed to benefit from the community compensation hence, they are making a case and are prepared to challenge multinational companies in the court of law if that is what is required to make them see reason why they also must be compensated. After all they maintained that they are the ones whose source of livelihood has been directly taken away as a result of the pollution.

On the May 2010 spill that occurred in Akwa Ibom state, Mr. Richard Abbey the OFSDF/ND helmsman disclosed that the compensation money has generated a lot of controversy following rejection the of N600 million naira compensation money given by Mobil.

Similarly, he also added that the spill in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom has been curtailed but there is some leakages. he condemned the clamping work done maintaining that a lot of work need to be done asl drifts from the clamped pipes still pollutes the sea.

On Shell’s reaction to the Oloma, Bonny spillage, he lambasted the multinational company over their decision to hold meeting with companies that to start the repairs of the flow line replacement, instead of embarking first on a cleaning up the spill, compensation of the affected community and fishermen before arranging on the repairs. He used the opportunity to call on Shell to expedite action and come up with workable modalities on how to compensate the fishermen and the community affected while making efforts to proffer final solution to curb the effect of the Oloma spill.. He also warned that the Organization of Fishermen, Sea food Dealers and Farmers in Niger Delta (OFSDF/ND) will not fail to take appropriate action should they fail to consider the plight of the fishermen.

The issue of compensation, accusations of conspiracy by multinational companies and sabotage has been constant points to contend with in this spillage drama. It is no longer news that those living in Nigeria's oil-rich delta are suffering a human rights tragedy inflicted by decades of environmental damage caused in large part by multinational companies. The contamination has damaged farmland, destroyed fish stocks and polluted the air and water, while oil companies' response has been misleading or inadequate.

However, it has been alleged that multinational companies has exploited the instability and lack of oversight to cover up oil spills caused by its own out-of-date or faulty equipment and these are the fundamental issues that need to be addressed hence, the constant call by the fishermen organisation to oil companies to own up to their responsibilities.

ENDS

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