Patrick Akpobolokemi, the Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), says Shell’s response to the Bonga oil spill fell short of international and national standards.
Akpobolokemi, who said this at a news conference in Lagos on Tuesday, stressed that “Shell has not behaved responsibly in the matter’’.
On Dec. 20, an oil facility in Bonga, which is managed by a subsidiary company of Shell, experienced an oil spillage.
The Bonga facility, 120 km off Nigeria’s coast, produces 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
“There is a consensus from our team who visited the communities that Shell has not behaved responsibly.
“All agencies of government should come together to make Shell to pay for the ecosystem’s devastation,’’ Akpobolokemi said.
He attributed the oil spillage to the failure of Shell to promptly take the right steps.
“In line with our mandate and in compliance with oil pollution prevention, we moved into action to see what is happening in the affected communities,’’ he said.
Akpobolokemi said that when the spill was announced, NIMASA made a sea radio broadcast to all mariners and issued a marine notice in one of the daily newspapers to the general public about the spillage so as to curtail its spread to other areas.
Beasides, the director-general said that NIMASA officials were monitoring the spill and had visited the affected communities.
“In the beginning, it was 1,000 barrels of spillage before moving to between 30,000 and 40,000 barrels and possibly beyond,’’ he said.
Akpobolokemi said that the magnitude of the spill could be compared to the Mobil spill which occurred in Nigeria’s territorial waters in 1998.
He described the spill as a massive one which affected the vegetation, birds and aquatic creatures.
Akpobolokemi said that from reports reaching NIMASA, the spill had moved to Akwa Ibom, Delta and Bayelsa.
“ The entire aquatic life of the people and the vegetation is gone.
“The fishing nets and other domestic materials, as well as other sources of livelihood are gone,’’ he said.