Nigeria investigates oil spill at Shell’s Trans Niger pipeline
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00:00 It's a familiar sight.
00:01 Blackened waters in the Niger Delta,
00:04 and adjacent farmland soiled by polluted water.
00:07 Environmental activists say nothing was done
00:09 to contain the oil spill for over a week.
00:12 "Comparing that kind of spill with what we have had in Ogoni before,
00:14 I think well over 15, 16 years that we had that kind of spill before.
00:19 That was the kind of spill that happens sometimes,
00:22 you know, in the mid-2000s in the border area
00:26 that led to the payment of massive compensation by Shell.
00:28 That is the kind of spill that can be likened to what we currently have on ground.
00:31 It's so massive. It's so massive."
00:34 Nigeria's National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency
00:38 has said that the spill came from the Transniger pipeline,
00:41 which is operated by Shell and crosses through the Elema area of Ogoniland.
00:46 Shell has confirmed that there has been a spill,
00:48 and this week it sent officials to the site,
00:51 along with Nigerian regulators and local officials.
00:54 The aim was to gather information and assess the causes behind the incident.
00:59 In the past, the oil giant has blamed several similar occurrences
01:03 on pipeline vandalism and illegal tapping of crude oil.
01:08 Faced with backlash from local residents and following deadly unrest,
01:12 Shell stopped production in Ogoniland more than 20 years ago.
01:16 Years later, the oil giant announced it would provide funds to clean up the area,
01:21 which suffered heavy pollution from the oil industry.