Bonga oil spill: Verification of impacted communities begins

It will be recalled that some 40,000 barrels of crude was discharged into the Atlantic during an operational mishap at the oil field operated by Shell Nigeria Production and Exploration Company (SNEPCO).
The House of Representatives and National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) had in December 2014 recommended a compensation of $3.96 billion for victims of the incident.
Addressing newsmen, immediate past Community Development Committee Chairman of Koluama 2 in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Prince George Ibobra said that the verification had reached the final stages.
Ibobra who represents Koluama 2 on the Spill Impact Verification Committee said that the December 2011 oil spill incident from Shell’s Bonga offshore oil spill impacted six local governments in Delta and Bayelsa.
He explained that the impacted communities in Delta and Bayelsa had inaugurated a 30-man committee in 2014 drawn from the six LGAs in the two states to conduct the verification of impacted people.