Wabara Orders Shell to Pay N210b Compensation Or Q

Wabara Orders Shell to Pay N210b Compensation Or Quit
November 17, 2004
By Emmanuel Aziken (Abuja)

SENATE President, Chief Adolphus Wabara, yesterday asked multinational oil giant, Shell, to pay the N210 billion ($1.5 billion) compensatory damages awarded against it to Ijaw of Bayelsa State or leave the country.

Fuming over the apparent reluctance of the company to heed separate resolutions of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the issue, Chief Wabara at two different occasions yesterday warned that no company no matter how big should regard itself above the laws of the federation.

A company source speaking from Shell headquarters in Lagos, however, denied knowledge of the development in a telephone interview with Vanguard. "We have no formal knowledge of this development and if it is true we will need to study it and come up with a formal response," the company source said.

Senator Wabara spoke against the background of separate resolutions of the Senate and the House of Representatives ordering Shell to pay $1.5 billion compensation to Ijaw Aborigines.

Following a petition from Ijaw Aborigines to the last House of Representatives, the body had constituted an arbitration panel including some of the country's leading lawyers which resolved that Shell should pay $1.5 billion to the petitioners as compensation for environmental and general damages arising from the company's operations in the Niger Delta area.

Following the apparent inaction of Shell to the resolution, the Senate had four months ago unanimously passed a resolution, asking Shell to heed the resolution of the House of Representatives.

Senator Wabara revealed yesterday that he had followed up the Senate resolution with a letter jointly signed by himself and the Speaker of the House of Representatives drawing the attention of Shell to the resolution.

Receiving a delegation of Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers in his office yesterday, Senator Wabara was adamant on the resolution, saying that the Senate and House went through legal procedure before coming up with the award.

Affirming that the award was necessary to heed off violence in the Niger Delta area, Senator Wabara said: "If Shell is becoming too large or too big to obey our laws they should try other countries. If they disrespect the resolution of the National Assembly, then they have no business in Nigeria."