The Nigerian Environmental Rights Action group has issued a demand for N51 billion ($100 Million) from ExxonMobil in Nigeria for their failure to compensate fishermen within the coastal areas who suffered devastating losses due to the oil company’s exploration activities and major oil spills last year which was revealed by SaharaReporters in a series of exposes.
The Nigerian Environmental Rights Action group has issued a demand for N51 billion ($100 Million) from ExxonMobil in Nigeria for their failure to compensate fishermen within the coastal areas who suffered devastating losses due to the oil company’s exploration activities and major oil spills last year which was revealed by SaharaReporters in a series of exposes.
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The fisherman of Akwa Ibom State received nothing from ExxonMobil for spills dating back to 1998 in the Qua Iboe oil fields.
ERA/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, which is focused on the preservation of the environment in Nigeria for sustainable development, gave ExxonMobil 21 days to respond or face major class action litigation.
Last month, ExxonMobil of Nigeria was cited for the reported use of dispersants near the coast to contain the May 1 oil spill, considered a violation of environmental standards in the oil industry.
The Rev. Samuel Ayadi, representing the Artisan Fishermen Association of Nigeria confirmed in media interviews that fishermen in the state have suffered untold hardship in due to frequent oil spills.
“Last year was particularly very challenging to us in the fishing business,” he said. “It was the worst year in more than a decade for us as we recorded more than seven major oil spills which destroyed aquatic life.
“Besides, many fishermen were forced out of business for the greater part of the year due to pollution of the Atlantic by oil and gas companies operating within our territorial waters,” Ayadi said.
“Our existing laws on oil spill compensation favor the international oil companies to the detriment of fishermen who lack the resources to pursue their claims… We have oil spill compensation claims that have been pending for more than 10 years and even the cases we won in court, the companies refused to comply with such judgments.”
As many as 546 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Niger Delta over the last five decades, or nearly 11 million gallons a year, a team of experts for the Nigerian government and international and local environmental groups concluded in a 2006 report. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 dumped an estimated 10.8 million gallons of oil into the waters off Alaska.
Regarding the recent Gulf of Mexico spill, Eket official Emman Mbong told The New York Times: “We’re sorry for them, but it’s what’s been happening to us for 50 years.”
Last year, sources told SaharaReporters that the pipelines that carry crude to the Qua Iboe Terminal are dilapidated and decrepit. “ExxonMobil’s refusal to replace these pipelines lead to these frequent oil spills from the Qua Iboe Terminal area,” said one source.
The same source described the Yoho vessel as “a huge piece of metal scrap that was expelled from Angola a few years ago.”
ExxonMobil has been at loggerheads since 1998 with its host communities in Akwa Ibom over frequent pollution of the Atlantic coastal waters where local peasant fishermen depend on for their livelihood.
The Energy firm operates a 960, 000 barrels per day crude export terminal off Ibeno coastline in Akwa Ibom state.
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