*Where sabotage is established, clean-up contract is not awarded to contractors from the host community to ensure possible accomplices do not benefit from such activities ─Bamidele Odugbesan, Media Relations Manager of SPDC 

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

In response to a report on a published documentary purporting that its staff were involved in crude oil pipeline vandalism for profit in the Nigerian economy, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has refuted the allegations, describing the report as “lacking substance and without proof.”

Mr. Bamidele Odugbesan, Media Relations Manager of SPDC, in a statement Thursday, December 10, 2020, said: “SPDC does not have any formal report of named SPDC staff members or contractors involved in pipeline vandalism or crude oil theft.

“SPDC, like other Shell companies globally, investigates all credible reports it receives of misconduct or unethical behaviour and takes robust action where evidence exists.”

ConsumerConnect had reported Thursday, that a documentary by The Netherlands television disclosed that Nigerian employees of the Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell ordered the deliberate vandalisation of oil pipelines for a personal gain.

The Dutch television documentary programme Zembla, together with Dutch environmentalist organisation Milieudefensie, has reported in a programme slated to be aired Thursday, that “multiple witnesses declared that SPDC, a subsidiary of Shell, caused the oil leaks.”

Zembla said in a press statement summarising an 18-month investigation of various leaks between 2010 and the present day noted “according to sources, Shell employees profit from these intentional oil leaks by pocketing money from clean up budgets.”

Odugbesan in the statement, however, noted the company has multiple ways the public can report allegations of wrongdoing by anyone working for SPDC, including a telephone helpline available round the clock and a dedicated email address.

The oil firm monitored its joint venture facilities and “any incident or suspected criminal activities are promptly reported to the regulators and government security agencies for investigation and possible prosecution,” stated the SPDC Media Relations Manager.

Odugbesan explained that as one of the measures adopted by the company to discourage host communities from tampering with SPDC assets in their communities, besides not paying compensation for spills found to have resulted from sabotage activities, is that contractors from host communities are not awarded clean-up contracts for sabotage spills in their communities.

The SPDC said: “All spills are assessed by a government-led joint investigation team. “Where sabotage is established, the clean-up contract is not awarded to contractors from the host community to ensure that possible accomplices do not benefit from such activities.

He added “SPDC cleans up and remediates areas impacted by spills that come from its operations, irrespective of cause of spill.”