Nigerian villagers protest oil spill of their coast
Off the coast of Africa, Nigerian villagers are confronted with a spreading problem: an oil spill and no one will accept responsibility. The villages, heavily dependent on fishing, have seen their boats damaged and many fish have been killed.
Nigerians are outraged at an oil spill that is killing fish and damaging boats in their fishing-dependent villages along the country's coast.
Some 13 villages in the Niger Delta have been hurt by the oil spill, which villagers are blaming on Royal Dutch Shell, the area's largest oil producer. The company says, however, that it's not to blame.
While companies deflect blame, villagers have been forced to scoop the oil up into buckets.
"The pollution is there. The problem is there, so we cannot go to the river. We can't live," one villager said.
Villagers blame Shell because about two weeks ago, the offshore, deep sea Bonga drilling facility was shutdown by an oil spill. But Shell officials say the spill at the 200,000 barrel a day facility located more than 100 kilometers from shore was contained and dispersed quickly — long before any oil could have made it to land.
Shell officials say the oil on the beaches is from other causes, perhaps including oil theft in the area.
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