Shell says third party interference responsible for 1970 Ogoni oil spills

Port Harcourt -- The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, has said that third party interference was responsible for the 1970 oil spills in Ogoniland for which it has been ordered by the court to pay a N45.9 billion compensation to affected community.

The spills occurred in Ejama

Ebubu community in Eleme, Ogoniland in Rivers State in 1970 during the Nigerian civil war.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had last week ordered Shell to pay N45.9 billion to the community within 21 days.

Recall that in November 2019, the Supreme Court had dismissed an application by SPDC requesting a revisit of an earlier judgment ordering it to pay N17billion damages to Ejama-Ebubu community, following the said oil spill which destroyed the fauna and flora of the community in the 1970s.

A five-man panel, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, unanimously dismissed the company’s application for a review of the judgment after upholding the preliminary objection filed by the communities’ legal team.

Reacting to the latest court ruling, Shell's Media Manager, Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, maintained that Shell was not liable for the said oil spills, though the affected sites were fully remediated by the company.

Odugbesan, however, said the compensation was for the final satisfaction of the suit filed by the community against the company.

"The order for the payment of N45.9billion to the claimants is for full and final satisfaction of the judgement in the suit, Chief Agbara and Others v. SPDC, in respect of the spills which we maintain were caused by third parties during the

Nigerian Civil War, a challenging period which resulted in significant damage to oil and gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta region.

"While the SPDC Joint Venture does not accept responsibility or liability for these spills, the affected sites in the Ebubu community were fully remediated," he said.