COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Shell must own up, pay up and clean up Oil spills have been devastating the Niger Delta region in Nigeria for decades, destroying the livelihoods of tens of thousands people living in the region. As a result, people have been pushed deeper into poverty. Our new report documents the devastating human effects of the two most recent major oil spills by petroleum giant Shell in Nigeria in 2008. See the devastation for yourself in this video and hear from people directly affected: http://youtu.be/4k37WgQc6sk 'Before the spill, life was easy. The people could live from the catch of fish. After the spill, everything was destroyed.' Fisherman from Bodo, Ogoniland in Nigeria Shell recently reported profits of US$ 7.2 billion for July to September this year, but offered affected communities - a total of 69,000 people - just 50 bags of rice, beans, sugar and tomatoes as relief. But the UN Environment Programme found that it would take 25 years to recover from cumulative damage caused by Shell's irresponsible actions. The corporation’s failure to promptly stop and clean up oil spills in Bodo has devastated the lives of tens of thousands of people. It’s time this multi-billion dollar company owns up, cleans up and pays up. Read more Shell must pay US $1 billion in first step to clean up Niger Delta, report, 10 November 2011. UN confirms massive oil pollution in Niger, news release, 5 August 2011 Shell accused over misleading figures on Nigeria oil spills, news release, 25 January 2011. Uploaded by AIAustralia on Nov 9, 2011 In August and December 2008, two major oil spills disrupted the lives of the 69,000 or so people living in Bodo, a town in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta. Both spills continued for weeks before they were stopped. Three years on, the prolonged failure of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, to clean up the oil that was spilled, continues to have catastrophic consequences for the Bodo community. Read more: http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/27199/? Category: