ARFAN urges FG to prevail on Shell to pay $3.6bn fine for Bonga oil spill
The Artisan Fishermen Association of Nigeria (ARFAN) has called on the Federal Government to prevail on Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company to pay the $3.6bn fine imposed on it by an industry regulator over the 2011 Bonga oilfield spill incident.
Samuel Ayadi, coordinator, ARFAN, Niger Delta chapter, who made the call in an interview in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, said fishermen had suffered untold hardship fishing at the nation’s territorial waters since 2011 when an equipment failure from the Bonga offshore field operated by SNEPCo discharged some 40,000 barrels of crude into the waters.
On December 20, 2011, during loading of crude at Bonga fields within Oil Mining Lease 118 situated at 120 kilometres off the Atlantic coastline, the export line ruptured and discharged crude oil into the sea.
The export line, according to a Joint Investigation Report by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and SNEPCo, spewed about 40,000 barrels (6.4 million litres) of crude oil into the sea.
Ayadi said, “We are further appealing to the Federal Government to prevail on Shell to obey the courts and pay a $3.6bn imposed by regulators for the Bonga spill incident. The compensation will help fishermen thrown out of business to recover.”
The ARFAN leader noted that having complied with NOSDRA’s order to pull out of fishing to avoid catching contaminated fish that could compromise public health, the fishermen deserved to be indemnified for the loss of income whilst the clean-up lasted.
NOSDRA had in March 2015 imposed the fine on Shell for discharging 40,000 barrels of crude into the Atlantic Ocean on December 20, 2011.
The fine comprised a $1.8bn as compensation for the damages done to natural resources and consequential loss of income by the affected shoreline communities as well as punitive damage of $1.8bn.
Following a legal action instituted by Shell at a Federal High Court in Lagos, Justice Mojisola Olatoregun, the trial judge, on June 20, 2018, dismissed the suit challenging the imposition of $3.6bn fine on it by the regulatory agency.
