Dutch documentary reports that Shell employees ordered vandalisation of pipelines to profit from clean-up budgets
Nigerian employees of the Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell ordered the deliberate vandalisation of oil pipelines for personal gain, a documentary in the Netherlands has reported.
Dutch television documentary programme Zembla, together with Dutch environmentalist organisation Milieudefensie, reported in a programme to be aired on Thursday that “multiple witnesses declared that SPDC, a subsidiary of Shell, caused the oil leaks”.
“According to sources, Shell employees profit from these intentional oil leaks by pocketing money from clean up budgets,” Zembla said in a press release summarising an 18-month investigation of various leaks between 2010 and the present day.
Zembla added the SPDC, along with the Dutch embassy in Nigeria, were aware of the accusations but had failed to address them……
Shell says that 95 percent of leaks are as a result of sabotage. It denies responsibility for the leaks, which it blames on local criminals and organised gangs.
Accusations ‘credible’
However, residents in the Ikarama in the Nigerian state of Bayelsa told Zembla that Shell employees encourage local youths in the villages to sabotage pipelines in the area and then split funds allocated for the cleanup.
“If a clean up is necessary, these same youths are then hired to perform it,” Washington Odeibodo told Zembla.
A former Shell security guard, who claimed to have been responsible for sabotaging pipelines in the past, said Shell supervisors and employees “split the money from the clean up”.
“The recovery department from Shell sabotages the pipelines. If the clean up will take seven months, they’ll stop after only three months,” he added.
According to Zembla, one saboteur said they committed the vandalism “out of hunger”.
In May, Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics said 40 percent of people in the West African nation live in poverty, in a country that has Africa’s biggest economy.
Cees van Dam, a professor of International Business and Human Rights at the University of Rotterdam, said allegations in Zembla’s report were “credible”…….
Who knew?
The documentary-maker claimed it was in possession of documents confirming SPDC was aware of the allegations.
However, Shell had so far not responded to queries about steps taken to address the issue.
“SPDC takes these kinds of accusations very seriously. If we find any evidence that supports these accusations, we will report it to the Nigerian authorities,” SPDC said according to Zembla’s statement…….
Source: aljazeera
