‘No Compensation Was Paid For Oil Spills In Gokana’

The Caretaker Committee
Chairman of Gokana Local Government Council, Hon. Confidence Deko has said that no compensation was paid for oil spill by London based firm, Leigh Day to any community in the area as is currently being speculated.
Hon. Deko who said during  a visit to the palace of the Gbenemene Gokana said that the issue of oil spills compensation must never be used by anyone to unleash terror in the area, stressing that the document dated August 17, 2015 sent to him by Leigh Day law firm captioned  Re:Bomu Bonny Oil Pipline Litigation” clearly shows that no money was paid to any community in Gokana Local Government Area as being speculated.
Parts of the document according to the caretaker chairman reads, “As you are aware, we have brought successful claims for some individual fish traders and farmers who were affected by the 2008 Bodo Oil Spills and resided in Bodo, Bomu, Gbe, Lewe and Kpor.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to bring a claim for everyone.
“It was therefore decided that on balance the strength of your community claim was not sufficient for us to be prepared to bring the claim. What this meant was that, we were therefore only able to take on claims for individuals in your communities who had been fishing, shell fish, harvesting or trading fish in or around Bodo before 2008 with the exception of a handful of farmers who had farms near Bodo.
“Following on from this, we were therefore also only able to bring a community claim on behalf of Bodo and not on behalf of any other Gokana Community. To be clear therefore, no community claim was advanced on behalf of your community by Leigh Day”.
The CTC Chairman also pledged to form a committee which would comprise traditional rulers and elites to restore a lasting peace in crisis- torn communities in the area so as to end the wanton destruction of properties and appealed to paramount rulers in the area for support.