Rivers community blames Shell for fresh oil spillage

Residents of Ogale community in Eleme LGA of Rivers staged a protest over a fresh oil spillage allegedly caused by Shell Nigeria.

On February 5, Shell Petroleum reported an oil spill in the community following an overflow of a saver pit during flushing operations in the Niger Delta region.

The company said the overflow was contained by its spill response team and that the appropriate authorities were notified.

However, on Thursday the protesters marched to the Shell service facility where the spill had occurred, with their placards bearing inscriptions such as: “Shell Clean Up Your Mess”.

Shell has been in a protracted legal battle with Niger Delta communities over alleged environmental injustice by the company on host communities.

The communities are demanding that oil companies must clean up the mess caused by oil exploration in their communitues which has rendered their water bodies useless.

On Thursday, a UK court began hearing the case between the Shell and the Ogale and Bille communities in Rivers, over alleged oil pollution in the region.

While the case sets a global pattern for holding multinational corporations accountable for environmental damage in foreign countries, Shell argued that it was not legally responsible for the pollution.