Oil Pollution: ‘Inadequate Fines Responsible For Corporate Impunity’

A university lecturer and
member Centre for Marine Pollution and Seafood Safety, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Bolaji Babatunde, says inadequate fines for oil pollution in Nigeria is responsible for the high level of impunity by oil companies in the Niger Delta.
Babatunde, who spoke at a Media Roundtable on Human Rights and Environmental Justice organized by the Centre for Environment Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) in Port Harcourt described as ridiculous a situation where companies pay N2500 as fine for pollution of the environment.
He disclosed that the Western World a fine for pollution will sink a company and lead to its closure and regretted why it is different in Nigeria.
The University Don stressed the need for upward review the various fines prescribed by the laws against companies for acts of pollution as it will make the managements to sit-up and check further pollution of the Niger Delta from their facilities.
Dr Babatunde stressed the need for synergy between civil society organizations (CSO) and the academia with the view to broadening the frontier of knowledge on pollution as well as ensure that the people of the region are adequately compensated by oil companies in the event of pollution of their environment.
He said that the centre for Marine Pollution and Seafood Safety has undertaken series of researches on the effects of pollution in the Niger Delta and urged interested organisations to avail themselves of these efforts to further contribute towards an end to pollution in the region also speaking, Dr. Ibisime Etella also of the University of Port Harcourt said that the craze for compensations have made most communities in the Niger Delta to ignore early reportage of spills in their vicinities to appropriate authorities for action.
Dr Etela, who said that those communities which wait for spills to spread, before reporting need to be educated on the dangers of such behaviours.
He also stressed the need for the government to enforce all relevant laws to check the level of environmental abuse in the region.

Refuse Compressor working at Eliozu dumping site during the visit to dumping site by the House Committee on Environment led by the Chairman, Hon Victoria Nyeche. Photo: Chris Monyanaga