Having admitted respon

sibility in the recent massive spillage of about 40,000 barrels of crude oil into the Atlantic Ocean and adjoining coastal communities, the Organisation of Fishermen, Sea food Dealers and Farmers in Niger Delta (OFSDF/ND) has  asked oil giant Shell to begin the process of immediate compensation even as it has brought untold hardship and job loss to its teeming members.

The group also alleged that the multinational oil and Gas Company is not doing enough to clean up the spill, stating that the fishermen whose only source of livelihood has been taken away by the said spill have been left to wallow in abject penury.

Chairman Board of Trustees OFSDF/ND, Mr Richard Abbey while lamenting the devastating effect of the spill on fishermen around the Bonny, Akwa Ibom and other coastal environs within the Atlantic deep sea axis explained that the waterways close to the shores are already polluted forcing fishermen to drift further into the Atlantic, but painfully the Bonga oil field spill which hitherto offered the fishermen a last gasp hope to fish has now been polluted following that colossal spill days back.

Mr Abbey who was on a visit to Bonny community to assess the level of damage in the area also revealed attempts by the company to play down the seriousness of the spill, stating that the catastrophe is fast spreading and has already impacted over 13 coastal villages with more to be affècted without any visible effort by officials to clean up the spill. Abbey argued that the spill by its spread is way more than the 40,000 barrel claimed by the company and demanded for proper evaluation.

Speaking to a Ghanaian fisherman along one of the affected fishing settlement in the South-South, Mr Koffi Kouate he said Shell’s continued silence on compensation of fishermen who have been rendered useless remain most unfair. He also called on relevant environmental bodies to request that Shell reveal the names and types of chemical dispersants used in fighting the spill as hazardous dispersants can further affect the remaining aquatic lives on the sea.

On the plight of his members, the OFSDF/ND boss declared, “I wish to state on behalf of the Organisation of Fishermen, Sea food Dealers and Farmers in Niger Delta (OFSDF/ND) that Shell should make haste to pay adequate compensation for specific and general damage to victims of the Bonga oilfield spill considering that some of the fishermen rely on daily sales of their fish to make a daily living ”. Continuing he warned that  if  Shell continue to drag its feet on this matter fishermen might be forced to take their destiny in their own hands.

He also described as attention-grabbing Shell’s admission of responsibility, contrary to her usual claim of sabotage even in the face of glaring decay of its obsolete facilities.