…Communities cannot bear the corporate negligence – Oweilaemi
…Relief materials and adequate compensation, a must – IYC
…Calls on FG to intervene for the sake of peace
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, has called on the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to expedite action in cleaning the polluted parts of the creeks in Burutu Local Government Area and other surrounding communities devastated by the recent oil spillage as the communities cannot bear the brunt caused by their negligence.
This call was handed down in a recent release signed and issued by Barrister Pereotubo Oweilaemi, the Group’s President, as part of the report of the Groups fact-finding mission to the affected areas.
According to Pereotubo, the crude oil spillage polluted the creeks in parts of Burutu Local Government, affected the surrounding communities with Odimodi Community being the worst hit.
In the same breath, he pointed out that the spilled crude oil has destroyed the people’s means of livelihood and devastated their eco-system.
A state of an affair, he said, has necessitated that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) must be compelled to cushion the excruciating pains the spillage has subjected the people of the area.
Giving details of their findings, the IYC president disclosed that the spill occurred as a result of equipment failure and negligence on the part of the company.
In his words, “There is no third party sabotage for SPDC to absolve itself of culpability. The company must live up to its responsibilities. Blaming their negligence on acts of saboteurs is no longer attractive. These were some of the causes of the Niger Delta crisis.”
IYC, according to Barrister Pereotubo, is not particularly happy that Odimodi people or any of the affected communities are going through this painful moment occasioned by corporate negligence
The group, therefore, called on the oil giant to immediately repairs its ruptured Trans-Forcados Trunk line which has spilled unquantifiable tons of crude oil to ravage the already degraded environment.
In the same vein, he call on the Federal Government and other interventionist agencies to prevail on SPDC to do the needful as the affected communities urgently need relief materials and commensurate compensations to ameliorate the effects of their sufferings.
Oweilaemi finally opined that since the region is currently peaceful, the FG and the oil companies should avoid acts that will be capable of truncating the existing peace by not handling this situation with levity.
By Shina Badmus
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