NIGERIA: An oil spill near an ExxonMobil oil field, off the southeast coast of Nigeria has spread along the shore for about 15 miles, and locals said it was killing fish they depend on to live

Record ID: 235763

  • Title: NIGERIA: An oil spill near an ExxonMobil oil field, off the southeast coast of Nigeria has spread along the shore for about 15 miles, and locals said it was killing fish they depend on to live
  • Date: 3rd September 2012
  • Summary: AKWA-IBOM, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) WAVES IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN WATER WITH TRACES OF CRUDE OIL TRACES OIL POLLUTION BY BEACH VARIOUS OF JOHN ETIM, FISHERMAN SHOWING OIL IN SAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN ETIM, FISHERMAN SAYING: "Mobil continue to deny that there is no oil spill, but here you are, this is the one, very recent. They must have poured the chemical (oil) right in high sea, but they can't deny that this is not oil." FISHERMAN STANDING NEXT TO BOAT VARIOUS BOATS AT WATER FRONT ABANDONED FISHING NETS DEAD CRABS BY BEACH HAND HOLDING DEAD CRABS VARIOUS OF GRACE ENO, TRADER CLEANING SHRIMPS (SOUNDBITE) (Efik) GRACE ENO, TRADER SAYING: "Since the spill occurred, fishing activities have reduced, and we buy fish at a very high cost which makes it difficult for us to re-sell it to customers. We are faced with hardship because our income has also reduced. Imagine I used to buy shrimps for 16 U.S. dollars now it goes for about 31 dollars. How will I make a profit?"
  • Embargoed: 18th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Business,Disasters,Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVADYA6CIY2HXMTE0UPDSOWFF6RC
  • Story Text: Fishing communities in Nigeria's southeast coast are demanding action from the government after an oil spill near an ExxonMobil oil field, polluted fishing waters.
    Mobil Producing Nigeria, a joint venture between ExxonMobil and the state oil firm, said in July, that it was helping clean up an oil spill near its Ibeno field in Akwa-Ibom state, though it did not know the source of the oil.
    John Etim, a Fisherman in Akwa-Ibom, showed a Reuters reporter, water along the coast that was covered with a rainbow-tinted film of oil.
    "Mobil continues to deny that there is no oil spill, but here you are, this is the one, very recent. They must have poured the chemical (oil) right in high sea, but they can't deny that this is not oil," said Etim.
    Exxon officials in Nigeria and in Houston, US could not immediately be reached to provide comment.
    Oil spills are common in Nigeria, where enforcement of environmental regulations is lax and armed gangs frequently damage pipelines to steal crude.
    At the Iwuokpom-Ibeno fishing community, a load of crabs that a fisherman had caught were soaked in toxic oil.
    Grace Eno, a market trader said fish were scarce since the spill and that fishermen were selling at much higher prices.
    "Since the spill occurred, fishing activities have reduced, and we buy fish at a very high cost which makes it difficult for us to re-sell it to customers. We are faced with hardship because our income has also reduced. Imagine I used to buy shrimps for 16 U.S. dollars now it goes for about 31 dollars. How will I make a profit?" said Eno.
    Decades of oil production in Nigeria's swampy Niger Delta, where one of Africa's longest rivers empties into the Atlantic, have turned parts of it into a wasteland of oily water and dead mangroves with thousands of barrels spilled every year.
    Oil companies say oil theft by criminal gangs is responsible for most of it.
    Samuel Ayode, Chairman Akwa-Ibom's fishermen association, says that the community is tired of the recurring problem and wants to see something done to stop the spills.
    "The oil will affect in other ways, because it will make the fish to migrate, all of them will run from the chemical. That is why anytime we have oil spill, we the fishermen we normally suffer it more than any other person. Like the impact of the Bonga field which still on, which makes for fish scarcity of fish even in this region, where we don't have much. We are still suffering that one and another one from Mobil comes up. What is really annoying of the thing is that we found this oil in the Mobil facility but they are telling us that it is not their own oil, its a mystery. But what we are waiting for now, we are waiting the government to bring the finger pointing out."
    A landmark U.N. report in August last year slammed the government and multinational oil companies, particularly Shell, for 50 years of oil pollution that has devastated the Ogoniland region. One community is suing for compensation in a London court.
    The government and oil majors have pledged to clean up the region and other parts of the Delta, but locals say they have seen no evidence of action yet.
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