Communities Affected By Bonga Oil Spill Yet To Receive Compensation, Says Commissioner

The communities affected by the Shell Bonga spill of 2011 have yet to be compensated,? says Mr Mofe Pirah, Delta Commissioner for Oil and Gas.

“Currently, nobody has been compensated; the compensation will come after the historical analysis of the result and findings have been concluded,’’ Pirah told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba.

NAN recalls that the spill which affected communities in four local government areas in the state and other oil-producing states, occurred towards the end of 2011.

The spill? reportedly wreaked havoc on the affected communities, depriving them of their source of livelihood.

Pirah's counterpart in the Ministry of Environment, Chief Frank Omare, told NAN that the affected communities were in Burutu, Warri North, Warri South and Warri South West LGAs in Delta and some LGAs in Bayelsa, Rivers and Ondo states.

“The clean-up process has been done by Shell which admitted that it was a mechanical failure and we supervised the clean-up process in the affected communities in Delta.

“We are following the development and at the end of the day when the results would have been made available, we will tell the people of the state,'' Omare said.?