Nigerian Community Protests Against Mobil Over Compensation

Nigerian community protests against Mobil over compensation

LAGOS, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) — Fishermen and residents of Ibeno community, near Eket in Nigeria’s southern Akwa Ibom State, protested the nonpayment of about 11 billion naira (about 88 million U.S. dollars) oil spillage compensation owed by US-based oil firm Mobil Producing Unlimited, according to local reporting reaching here on Monday.

It is learnt that the fishing community carried placards with various inscriptions demanding the immediate payment of compensation that had accumulated since 1998.

The fishermen, who operate at the Ibeno shoreline, told the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the cumulative effect of the oil spills had impacted negatively on their businesses, dueto loss of revenue, following advice by Mobil to that they should abstain from fishing for three months after each oil spill.

A local community leader, Chief Hrkins Inyang, was quoted as saying that Mobil refused to pay their loss of fishing activity suspension caused by the company’s oil spillage as well as the daily flaring of gas by Mobil, which polluted the air and water, resulting in adverse effects on their health and corrosion of their roofs due to acid rain caused by gas flaring.

“Compensation for damages to our means of livelihood should notbe substituted for community development projects, they are not the same. Fishermen whose nets and fishing gear were burnt will need money to replace them and return to fishing or take to alternative business,” Inyang was quoted as saying.

(c) 2007 Xinhua News Agency – CEIS. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.