Report
On Shell Oil Disaster In Ogbodo
11th July 2001
As we entered Ogbodo, the 1st things that caught my eyes were the
heavy trucks, lorries and other vehicles parked to the right hand
side of the road. I could not help but notice also the number of
armed personnel sitting in front of people’s compounds.
The big craters in the middle of the road prompted the question
what happened here?
My companions informed me that these craters were created by the
heavy equipment SHELL brought in after the oil spill, which occurred
on the 25th of June 2001.
We were stopped by a road block of the women of Ogbodo, and their
leaders, young and old, asking, Are you from SHELL? They were
satisfied to hear that we are not from SHELL. I got out of the car
and introduced myself and the purpose of my coming.
I was taken to the chiefs, elders, youth leaders, and women
leaders
The following are the complaints of the women
Of relief no real concern shown by either the Government or by
SHELL.
Their paramount need according to them is WATER.
Chief Hopson Amadi the Secretary of the Ogbodo/Isiokpo Council of
chiefs gives the following information, which is confirmed by other
chiefs and elders
As at the time of this visit SHELL has given to the Ogbodo
community the following relief.
70 bags of RICE
56 bags of BEANS
140 STICKS OF STOCKFISH
60 bags of SALT
14 500 liters of WATER CONTAINER (in this
distribution SHELL has left out 1 family )
Water is delivered once every 2 to 3 days; this translates to 250 liters
of water every day for over 10,000 people a day, each person in Ogbodo
is getting 0.025liter of water per day from a multinational oil company
such as SHELL.
After the community complained of various symptoms, such as
difficulty in breathing, dizziness, headaches, chest pains, etc.
SHELL brought in a mobile medicine dispensary that opens between
11am and 12noon and closes between 2 and 3pm.
For 5 days fire fighting personnel and their equipment, from a
combined team of SHELL, and AGIP could not put out the raging fire
on the River Aza. The fire was finally put out on the 6th day of the
fire.
Canoes, boats, and nets belonging to the community for their
livelihood are totally destroyed in the ensuing fire. Farmlands are
also destroyed.
Families close to the spill site have had to evacuate from their
homes at great inconveniences, as breathing is difficult and the
stench most unbearable.
This oil spill has turned the people of Ogbodo refugees in their
own community.
The 1st sight you meet as you drive into the community is the
spill site at the bridge.
The name of this bridge is NMIRI AMU in Ikwere Language this
means DRINKING WATER.
The spill points are heavily coated in crude oil. It
reminds me of EXXON Valdez in the USA or in Nigeria the oil
disasters of MOBIL in 1998, or that of SHELL in Ogoni last Month.
As at the time of our visit SHELL and WILBROS has lost hope of
getting the situation under control.
A 35 ml bottle was filled from the spill site and the amount of
water in the 35ml bottle filled with crude oil is less than ¼ of an
ounce of water.
Just standing on NMIRI AMU bridge and looking around you can feel
the death of this beautiful, serene place, the environment.
You can no longer hear the birds chirping, or see the birds
flying. The leaves on the trees are no longer dancing to the caress
of the breeze in the heat of the day, nor to the gentle evening
breeze.
The environment is dying, and the mood of the people is mournful.
They are thoroughly depressed.
On the way to Obgodo, at Umuaga we had earlier come across an oil
seismic party, we have since gathered belong to SHELL,( exploring
for BLACK GOLD,) going about their work as if nothing has happened.
Umuaga is a few minutes from Ogbodo.
The following lines flooded into my consciousness and I wrote
All over the Niger Delta, from the past 40years
Niger Deltans are
Crying tears of OIL
Breathing air of GAS
Drinking contaminated WATER
Eating polluted FOOD
From polluted SOIL
Eating contaminated FISH
From contaminated RIVERS and STREAMS
ACTION NEEDED
I am appealing to all good people who may read this to do
something.
The attempt by SHELL and it’s contractors to clean the spill is
causing more harm than good, because of the inefficient and
primitive way they are going about the clean up.
They are actually spreading the spill than cleaning it up. There
is danger that the spill will impair the health of the people of
Ogbodo.
SHELL is also adopting divide and rule tactics and playing the
trump card of compensation politics. The strategy is to buy time, by
calling the spill a sabotage, enabling SHELL to move on with it’s
work of drilling for oil and making billions of dollars while the
people die.
PLEASE DO THE
FOLLOWING
-
Write
to SHELL to complain of the Ogbodo spill and other recent spills
in Ogoni and the Ijaw areas of the Niger Delta.
- Put pressure on SHELL to
change it’s ways of doing things in the Niger Delta.
- Ask SHELL to stop working with
the military in it’s oil operations.
- Ask SHELL to pay fair and
adequate compensation to the people of Ogbodo and also restore
the destroyed environment.
- Help us put pressure on our
President to make the environment a high priority, not oil, not
gas. Our people depend more on land, water and than on oil and
gas.
- Let us all work together to
make these corporations care. They have not cared in the past
and are not caring for our present or our future.
*MS. ANNKIO OPURUM-BRIGGS
Is the President of AGAPE IS A BIRTHRIGHT a Niger Delta NGO based
in Port-Harcourt Rivers State. Defending the rights of women,
children, youths, and the environment.
An affiliate organization of NIGER DELTA WOMEN FOR JUSTICE.(NDWJ)
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