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Fresh hostility brews as Niger Delta youths issue ultimatum to FG, Shell on oil spillages

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Fresh hostility brews as Niger Delta youths issue ultimatum to FG, Shell on oil spillages

A fresh crisis seems to be brewing in the Niger Delta region following a clamour by the youths in the area over delay in payment of compensation for oil spillage in various communities in the region over the years.

The youths on Thursday, sent out a warning to the Federal Government and the Anglo-Dutch energy giant, Shell, which they said was primarily involved in oil exploration activities that cause the spillage in Ogoni land.

They said they had already issued a warning that Shell is to pull out of Ogoni land for its failure to pay the agreed out-of-court settlement.

According to Friday Ibriseme, coordinator, Ogoni Youths Movement, (OYM) “this makes it imperative that we issue an ultimatum to all those directly or indirectly involved in rendering our land useless”.

The group recalled that in January 2015, there was an understating between the oil giant and the representatives of the community, in which Shell agreed to pay them the sum of $70 million as compensation.

Read also: Confusion as Presidency disowns P’Harcourt Refinery concession

More than 15,500 people of Bodo, a community mostly hit by the oil spillage saga, were to benefit from the payment

Also the Federal Gvernment in June 2016, through the Acting President (as the Vice President), Yemi Osinbajo formally launched the oil cleansing project, which the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) commended.

“Nothing is being done to show that both the government and the oil company are ready to tackle the environmental pollution that we have been subjected to in the past decades that oil was explored in Ogoniland,” stated Chief Livinus Kiebel, chairman of the Bodo council of chiefs.

It was learnt that only $10 million of the initial $1 billion, which the government budgeted for the programme had so far been released.

A governing council, with the project coordinator, had been appointed but without the needed funds for the work.

However, the youths of the area have threatened to deploy all legitimate means, including public demonstration to drive home their points.

The community has been abandoned to continue to bear the cost of the oil spillage, which Shell had already taken responsibility for.

“The water we drink is still not fit for human consumption; our fishing ponds had since been polluted beyond redemption.

“That we are still drinking the poisoned water and have remained jobless as we have lost our fishing ponds”, Ibriseme lamented.

But a spokesman of Shell, South South Zone, Peter Okoimo, stated that if there were any misunderstanding, the company knows what to do, and that meetings with all stakeholders were still being held on regular basis these days to avert any tension.

 

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