28 December 2011, Sweetcrude, WARRI—A lawmaker, representing the Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has described the oil spill at Shell’s Bonga oil field as a national calamity that requires all efforts to curtail it and prevent it from getting to the shores of the coastal states.
Mr. Daniel Reyenieju noted that this was not the time to apportion blames, appealing to all organisations and bodies in Nigeria and the international oil community that possesses the technological capacities for curtailing such spill to immediately come on board and assist Shell in the clean up effort.
“Everything about crude oil is a pipe business right from extraction to the processing of the respective final products. No individual nor corporate organisation involved in crude oil extraction will be happy to see its products floating on top of the sea and causing environmental havoc instead of going through pipes and empting into designated tanks.
“Since the leakage was reported, there has been a lot of apprehension as the marine life in the areas are once again at the risk of devastation. No matter the compensation that may eventually take place, such can never make up for the amount of devastation on the economic lives of the people of the who live in the coastal areas,” the lawmaker said.