Illegal Bunkering: Niger Delta Fishermen Accuse Shell of Conspiracy

The Organization of Fishermen Seafood Dealers and Farmers in Niger Delta, OFSDF/ND have accused multinational oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC of playing a fundamental role in aiding the high spate of illegal bunkering around the Oloma axis of Bonny in Rivers State, due to the shoddy pipeline clamping job and company’s refusal to destroy or evacuate illegal bunkering equipment within their pipeline facilities sabotaged by local refiners.

Spokesperson for the OFSDF/ND, Mrs. Preye Okosi, made the allegation in a petition addressed to the Amanyanabo of Bonny Kingdom, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple.

The organization demanded that Shell must return to site and complete the inconclusive clamping jobs and ensure the destruction/clearance of illegal bunkering equipment within the Oloma, Ogbonga and Berger axis or risk stoppage of all her activities in the area.

Oloma axis 2

Oloma Pipeline

The letter reads in part: “ANASAMI CONSTRUCTION LIMITED contractors to Shell was awarded a job to work on SPDC pipeline clamping within the Ogbonga axis and to destroy local equipment previously used for illegal bunkering in the area to curb the menace of pipeline vandals. However, instead of professionally carrying out the job according specification, the company abandoned the contract halfway and left the area without concluding the clamping job, and had also failed to evacuate remains of the local refinery equipment that was used for illegal bunkering in the area”.

 The situation according to OFSDF/ND spokesperson is worrisome, because with the presence of the illegal bunkering tools, there is the possibility that the bunkers might revisit and have a seamless access to burst the pipeline with their equipment still in place and continue from where they stopped.

Okosi also disclosed that a damaged pipeline along the Oloma axis left unclamped is still experiencing some amount of leakage.

She said, “we are aware they did a cofferdam job, like a tentative preventive arrangement which is over a year now, however SPDC has consistently refused to return to site to do the final clamping”.

According to her, there is also sabotage on the Shell pipeline valve that is yet to be attended to by the company and the concern is that if not repaired, it will attract the return of the these illegal bunkers again.

The group said the absence of shell and their contractors at the various leakage points have accounted for monumental damage to the environment and fishing activities, adding that in spite of the consequences brought about by their pollution, SPDC is yet to do a proper clean up, rather they are playing politics with the cleanup in these areas.

In another development, information gathered revealed that SPDC is at loggerhead with Bonny Kingdom over an unfortunate decision to carry out a reassessment project within the Bonny Territory without involving their host, Bonny Kingdom and critical stakeholders.

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