The Shell Bonga oil spill of over 40,000 barrels occurred on December 20th 2011, affecting over 20 riverine communities across Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Delta State in Nigeria, like the Odioma community [1] and two communities in Ekeremor [2]. After Environmental Rights Action (hereafter ERA), namely Friends of the Earth Nigeria, received confirmation from the community folks of the spread of the spill into Odioama’s environment. ERA’s field monitors promptly visited the community and reported their findings. The spill spread in the environment, truncating the community’s livelihoods. The communities visited by ERA’s monitors were “Elder James Sampson aka Ovie Kokori, Danyo Ogoniba and Ayeomane Ayela, included Fish Camp 2 opposite the Varnish Island and St. Nicholas” [3]. As a result of the spill, the livelihoods of the local people have been truncated, due to contamination of their open water, fishing activities have been difficult, leading to loss of employment and it has led to migration of people from these communities in search of fresh water. Shell (the major owner of the exploitation license) has refused to accept full responsibility for the incident and had rebuffed the claims from the communities affected by the spill. The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (hereafter NOSDRA) fined the multinational “$1.8 billion as compensation for the damages done to natural resources and consequential loss of income by the affected shoreline communities as well as a punitive damage of $1.8 billion” [4]. Shell refused to accept the fine and brought the case to a Nigerian federal court by 2016. Yet by May 24th, 2018, a federal judge ruled that Shell’s subsidiary SNEPCo is liable to a $3,6 billion fine to be levied on by NOSDRA. A group, made up of victims from the spill, has come together to fill in a suit against SNEPCo in London, since Shell is still refusing to pay the fine and compensate the victims, even though allegations have found the origins of the spill to be an operational error. It is considered that at least 168,000 people have been affected by Bonga spill, one of the worst of the decadein the Niger delta [5].

First discovered in 1995, the Bonga oil field lies in water 1,000 meters deep across an area of 60 km2. It has the capacity to produce more than 200,000 barrels of oil a day and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas a day. Bonga oil field is located in the license block OML 118 (previously called OPL 212) [6]. Bonga’s major operator is Shell’s subsidiary Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (hereafter SNEPCo) who owns 55% of the license. The other partners are: