The Federal Government has accused the multi-national oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC),

of complicity in its handling of the oil spill at its Bonga facility.

The Federal Government said this through its agency, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

The Director-General (DG) NIMASA, Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi, said the inaction of the international oil firm over the management of the spill left much to be desired.

Shell had claimed last week that production had resumed at the facility while investigation was still ongoing.

According to a statement from the company, the Country Chair, Mutiu Sunmonu, said: “While investiga-tion into the cause of the leak continues, we have isolated the faulty line, which was the only one of its type in the Bonga field, and reinforced our asset integrity and safety programme. This, together with additional inspection testing and monitoring, is what gives us the confidence that it is safe to restart.”

Akpobolokemi said: “Shell has not lived up to its responsibility. Shell, at a point, stated that there was another spill from a third party without proper proof, because NIMASA’s investigation revealed that there was no spill from a third party.”

He categorically stated that the entire spill was caused by Shell and that the spill came from its Bonga operations 120 nautical miles off Nigerian coast.

He noted that the entire ecosystem and aquatic life in the region had been affected, stressing there was near epidemic crisis situation in the area.

According to him, “Shell has neither behaved properly nor responsibly in the matter. Their response to the spill falls short of national and international standards. From our investigation so far, even though the spill was announced December 20, we are sure the spill occurred long before that date.”