By Brave Dickson
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, has called on the federal government to impose tougher penalties on oil companies whose facilities pollute the environment.
President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke made the call during a visit to the site of Thursday’s oil spills which occurred from the pipelines of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, in K-Dere community in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
“Strict penalties would help deter oil companies especially SPDC, who has been responsible for many devastating oil spills in Ogoni area,” he said.
Nsuke also strongly condemned the spills, adding that the Nigerian laws have tolerated oil operators like SHELL a lot and have failed to discourage oil companies from such environmental damage by not punishing them for oil spill crimes.
He also called for a review of the Petroleum Industry Act to deter oil companies from reckless pollution of the environment, noting that there was a need to impose heavy penalties in fines and compensation that are payable to those who suffer losses.
He further said as long as the consequences of environmental pollution remain light and don’t have strong impacts on companies’ balance sheets, oil companies will not take the issue of pipeline integrity and environmental protection serious.
Recall that on Thursday, October 19, 2023, a major oil spill occurred from the pipelines of SHELL in K-Dere in Ogoni, causing heavy damage to farmlands and water sources.
