Bodo Community Profile
Bodo is a community in Ogoniland comprised of 35 villages and 62,000 people. The Bodo community is located in the Gokana Local Government Area of Ogoniland and is situated on the northeast edge of the Bodo creek. The majority of the Bodo community depends on subsistence farming and fishing. Although Bodo is surrounded by water, the community suffers from a lack of clean water sources due to two recent oil spills that occurred in 2008 by Shell. Privately owned wells and boreholes are the main source of clean water in Bodo. However, there are only about 20 boreholes to support the community of over 60,000. As a result, households must spend a large portion of their income buying water, and the poorest families must use contaminated water from the rivers.
Ogoniland contains 96 oil wells connected to 5 flow stations that are operated by Shell. Two of the flow stations are located in the Gokana Local Government Area and Shell oil pipelines cross over Bodo’s land, creek and waterways. In August of 2008 there was a major oil spill in the Bodo creek caused by a fault in the Trans-Niger Pipeline. Experts estimate that as much as 4,000 barrels of oil a day leaked from the pipe. The spill was eventually stopped in November of 2008. In December of 2008 a second oil spill occurred in Bodo. It was reported that this spill was caused by equipment failure. As a result of these spills, it has been reported that there has been a severe reduction in marine life in the Bodo creek and a dramatic reduction in the mangrove population surrounding the Bodo creek. The toxicity of soil in the area has also negatively affected farming yields. In reaction to these oil spills, Bodo filed a lawsuit against Shell in 2012. The claim stated that the oil spills had negatively impacted the quality of life of the members of the Bodo community. The Bodo community members allege that the pipelines caused spills because they were old and poorly maintained by Shell. Shell admitted that its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) is responsible for the spills, but argued that the cause of the spills was oil theft by the residents of Bodo. Shell attempted to make a settlement but it was refused by the residents of Bodo as being too small of a compensation. The case is expected to go to trial in 2015. In addition to the negative environmental impacts of the oil spills, there are also various health impacts such as diarrhea and asthma, as well as socio-economic impacts such as loss of financial security and violations of human rights that have affected the people of Bodo. |
Images Obtained from:
http://www.bebor.org/images/ |