The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has accused the Federal Government of not acting tough against Shell.
MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke called for the immediate evacuation of residents of Eleme communities of Rivers State.
The organisation, on Friday, decried the oil spill noticed from a facility run by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), in the week..
Nsuke listed the affected localities impacted by the incident as Ogale, Aleto, Agbonchia, Onne, Okpaku and Alesa.
The activist noted that government’s failure to heavily sanction Shell for polluting communities was the reason for its reoccurrence over the years.
Nsuke pointedly accused the oil giant of insincerity regarding the issue of oil spill, as well as decommissioning of its facilities in Ogoniland.
“The fresh spill is a testament that Shell is secretly operating its facilities in Ogoniland and has not decommissioned,” he stressed.
The MOSP leader said this was in spite of the UNEP recommendations which Shell and the Federal Government claimed to have been implementing since 2016.
Nsuke stated that environmental pollution “has been encouraged in Nigeria because there are little or no consequences for the polluters”.
“This is something the government should strongly consider in the light of present realities where people’s lives are altered by constant pollution and no one is held to account,” he added.
Michael Akande, a spokesperson for Shell, operator of the NNPC/SPDC/TotalEnergies/NAOC Joint Venture, confirmed there was a spill at a facility in Eleme on June 11, 2023.
He said the company is working with the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Rivers Ministry of Environment and community representatives, “as investigations into the cause and impact of the incident progresses”.
