Oil Spill Triggers Fire Outbreak in President Jonathan’s home state •Over 100 Houses Burnt •Hundreds Flee Community

Posted by admin Bayelsa, General Politics, Oil Politics, State News, Top Stories Friday, August 19th, 2011

THOUSANDS have fled the Ikarama community, Bayelsa state following an inferno triggered by an oil spill from a Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) pipeline.

No fewer than 100 houses were also burnt by the fire, which has compounded the problems arising from the spill.

Saturday Tribune gathered that the damage could have been worse, but for the fact that virtually all inhabitants of the community had gone to farm or proceeded on a fishing expedition.

The latest disaster is coming against the backdrop of the spirited efforts by the Federal government to address the impacts of oil spill in Ogoni land, coupled with a damning report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the problem in the area.

It was gathered that Ikarama had experienced no fewer than six oil spills in the last three weeks with the SPDC succeeding in clamping five of the spill sites at different locations before the outbreak of fire on Wednesday night.

Although the cause of the fire outbreak could not be immediately established as at press time, sources said it was a case of sabotage.

However, the Environment Rights Action Field Coordinator in the state, Comrade Morris Alagoa, who was among the first persons to arrive at the scene, told our correspondent that the distance between houses and some huts in the area was less than 20 meters.

“The natives, young and old watched helplessly from safe distances how their property were consumed by the inferno, which rose up to about 25 meters or so above the ground,” he said, adding that that appropriate authorities should move in to investigate the incessant spill in the community and ascertain the major cause of the outbreak of fire.

In his remark, a resident, Mr. Tamunokomie E. Oba, said “the fire outbreak caused a lot of panic because crude oil is all around our dwelling and we fear the fire might spread to burn down the house.”

Confirming the incident, SPDC Spokesman, Mr. Precious Okolobo, said the fire was ignited by unknown persons.

Meanwhile, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell, has accepted responsibility for two devastating oil spills in Ogoniland in Rivers State.

The Bodo fishing community in Ogoni, sued Shell in the United Kingdom (UK), alleging that oil spills in 2008 and 2009 had destroyed the environment and ruined their livelihoods.

Lawyer to the communities, Mr. Martyn Day, said his clients would seek hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for one of the world’s “most devastating oil spills”.

Shell told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) it would settle the case under Nigerian law.

Experts who studied video footage of the spills, said they could be as large as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, United States (US) when 10 million gallons of oil destroyed the remote coastline, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reports.

Until now, Shell had claimed that less than 40,000 gallons were spilt in the country.

Reports said the spillage was caused by pipelines which ran through the village.

Shell stopped pumping oil from Ogoniland in 1993 after the late environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was hanged for leading a campaign against it for allegedly destroying the environment.

Martyn Day, represented the 69,000-strong Bodo fishing community, said they would demand “adequate compensation immediately”.

“This is one of the most devastating oil spills the world has ever seen and yet it had gone almost unnoticed until we received instructions to bring about a claim against Shell in this country [UK],” he said. He said the community had three sets of claims.

The first claim – for at least $100m (£61m) – was for to clean up the area.

The second one was for damages to the community land and the final one was for losses suffered by individual families, Day said.

“The Bodo people are a fishing community surrounded by water. What was the source of their livelihood now cannot sustain even the smallest of fish. The spills have caused severe poverty amongst the community.

According to SPDC, it had earlier mobilized a fire fighting team, but access was denied by community women blockade, who were lamenting their woes.

– Tribunewp_posts