Fridays for Future Nigeria (FFFN), an environmental protection group, has faulted the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) for the environmental pollution in Ogale and Bille communities in Rivers.
This is contained in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja by Mr Kingsley Odogwu, the National Coordinator and Country Representative, FFFN.
Odogwu strongly condemned Shell’s disregard for human and environmental rights in the region.
“The people of the Niger Delta, including Ogale and Bille communities have an inherent right to a clean and healthy environment, a right that Shell has systematically violated,” he said.
The Ogale and Bille communities in oil rich Nigeria’s Niger Delta are experiencing ongoing and significant environmental pollution, primarily from oil spills.
Residents have claimed severe contamination of their water supply, farmlands, and waterways, preventing them from fishing and farming due to the chronic oil pollution.
This issue is currently the subject of ongoing legal action against Shell in the UK courts by members of these communities.
The FFFN national coordinator urged the Nigerian government and the international community to support the Ogale and Bille communities in their quest for justice and to hold Shell accountable for its environmental destruction.
He lamented the decades of environmental degradation due to oil spills, gas flaring, and other harmful practices by Shell and other oil companies in the region.
According to him, the ecosystem of the affected communities has been severely damaged, and the health and livelihoods of its inhabitants compromised.
”The affected communities demand that Shell fulfill its legal obligations by cleaning up the pollution to international standards and providing adequate compensation.”
”The FFFN stands in solidarity with the Ogale and Bille communities in their pursuit of justice against Shell Petroleum for its egregious environmental destruction in the Niger Delta.
“In a show of support, FFFN and Climate Live Nigeria will hold a peaceful demonstration in Lagos on Feb 13, 2025, coinciding with the start of the trial against Shell in a London High Court.”
He called on all citizens of the country to support the move for the actualisation of justice for all the communities and other victims of ecosystem pollution in Nigeria.
(NAN)
