Victims and communities affected by the 2001 Bonga crude oil spill have issued a notice to occupy the facilities of Shell Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCO) from July 18, 2023.

Speaking under the auspices of Concerned Bonga Oil Spill Impacted Communities (CBOSIC), they said their decision followed their demand for compensation pegged at $3,600,191,206.

A statement by CBOSIC’s chairman, Mike Tiemo and secretary, Gbigbi Nelson was made available to reporters in Warri, Delta State, yesterday.

It reads: “We the concerned Bonga Oil Spill Victims and Impacted Communities having made a demand for compensation within 14 days dated 20^thof May, and having further issued another seven days’ notice to the Shell Group of Companies, restate our demand of 20^thMay, 2023.

“The concerned Bonga Oil Spill Victims and Impacted Communities, therefore, states as follows: that having duly informed all security agencies in Nigeria in line with the relevant provisions of the 1999 constitution as amended would proceed to occupy Shell facilities on a peaceful protest march from July 18^th2023”.

In an earlier letter dated June 23 and addressed to the Managing Director of SNEPCO, CBOSIC had informed the Shell Group of its planned protest.

In 2017, a group, Oil Spill Victims Vanguard (OSPIVV), dragged the SNEPCO to a United Kingdom court over failure to pay a $3,600,191,206 compensation fine to victims and communities affected by the 2001 Bonga Oil Fields spill.

OSPIVV Director, Harrison Jalla, alleged at the time that about 1,686,000 persons in over 350 communities were negatively affected by the spill.

The spill was alleged to have occurred due to equipment failure, discharging over 40,000 barrels of crude oil into the Atlantic Ocean. (The Nation)