BENIN CITY- The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), has praised the people of Ejama-Ebubu community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers state,
for steadfastness in the pursuit of justice, remediation and restoration of their destroyed environment.
Rising from its General Assembly in Port Harcourt, ERA/FoEN in its press statement applauded the people of Ejama-Ebubu for steadfastness leading to the willingness by Shell to pay them compensation to the tune of over $110 million or N45.7 billion naira as full and final settlement for the oil spill that occurred in 1970 in the area and for the attendant losses suffered.
ERA/FoEN while updating on the feud between the oil giant and its host community, lamented on the downward review in payment while noting that the failure to remediate led to the institution of a legal action against the oil company at the Federal High Court of justice in 1991 and by 2010 the court awarded compensation to the community in the sum of N17 billion naira which Shell objected to. In November 2020 the Supreme Court rejected Shell’s bid to set aside the 2010 compensation award. The judgment debt of N17 billion, had after 11years of Shell’s delay ballooned to N180 billion.
The Executive Director ERA/FoEN, Dr. Godwin Uyi 0jo and Mike Karikpo, Director of Programs while praising the landmark judgment, rebuked Shell for taking communities through long harrowing legal obstacles to deny them justice. They observed that it took 30years of no apology before Shell bowed to the will of Ejama-Ebubu people and the dictates of justice.
ERA/FoEN therefore called on communities in the Niger Delta region impacted by reckless oil extraction to demand full accountability from every oil company, making it imperative that oil impacted ecosystems across the country be cleaned, restored and adequate compensation paid to communities and individuals whose livelihoods are impacted.
