Dutch Oil Giant, Shell paid a compensation of £55million to a community devastated by oil spills in the Niger Delta

Dutch Oil Giant, Shell has paid a compensation of £55million to a community devastated by oil spills in the Niger Delta, said a press release signed by Amnesty International and the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD).

“Six years after two oil spills destroyed thousands of livelihoods in the Bodo area, legal action in the UK has driven Shell to make an out-of-court settlement of £55million to compensate the affected community. The £55million will be split between £35million for 15,600 individuals and £20million for the community,” said the press statement.

Director of Global Issues at Amnesty, Audrey Gaughran, emphasised that while the pay-out amounts to a long awaited victory for the thousands of people who lost their livelihoods in Bodo, it shouldn’t have taken six years to get anything close to fair compensation.

“In effect, Shell knew that Bodo was an accident waiting to happen. It took no effective action to stop it, then, it made false claims about the amount of oil that had been spilt. If Shell had not been forced to disclose this information as part of the UK legal action, the people of Bodo would have been completely swindled,” said Gaughran.

The group noted that the long wait has taken its toll on Bodo residents, many of whom, it noted, had their fishing and farming livelihoods destroyed in the spill.

“Throughout this time they have had to live with the ongoing pollution and, without compensation, many have faced grinding poverty,” the press statement said.

For the director of programmes of the CEHRD, Styvn Obodoekwe, the compensation is a step towards justice for the people of Bodo. However, he emphasised that justice will be fully achieved when Shell properly cleans up the heavily polluted creeks and swamps so that those who rely on fishing and farming for their income can begin to rebuild their livelihoods.

Two oil spills occurred at Bodo in the Niger Delta in 2008, the first in August and the second in December. Amnesty International and CEHRD have worked on the Bodo spills case since 2008, supporting the community to secure compensation and clean up.