A youth group in Rumuekpe, in the Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, has threatened to drag Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria before the International Criminal Court in order to recover damages for the explosion that occurred in their community last Friday and resulted in multiple fatalities and the burning down of vehicles.
Last Friday, an explosion in the Rumuekpe settlement caused by illegally refined crude resulted in the deaths of several people.
The Department of State Service will also detail before the ICC its role in the destruction of properties nearby and the arrests it made in their neighborhood, according to Maxwell Agala, the president of Rumuekpe Young Elites, who was speaking at a press conference there.
Maxwell accused the multinational of laxity, in addressing reports of pipeline sabotage, adding that SPDC waits until there is a disaster, like the recent one that claimed the lives of several persons and properties destroyed.
“I am telling the world that SHELL is to blame because they have failed to carry out their Corporate Social Responsibility to our community. They are the cause of everything that is happening in Rumuekpe today. They are the cause of the fire outbreak.
“They are the major connivers. I have their details with some of their security agencies, most importantly the DSS, coming to the community for arrests, looting the community, youths, properties, valuables worth millions of naira.
“They are all connivers of what is happening in Rumuekpe today. If SHELL say they are not connivers, then the ICC is not afraid of SHELL or the DSS.”
In the meantime; Shell Petroleum Development Company has claimed ownership of the pipeline, where the fire ignited.
The oil multinational accused the people of sabotaging their pipeline, which resulted in the disaster of last week Friday.
