By Yunus Yusuf
Shell Petroleum says it has begun distribution of relief materials worth 1 million dollars to flood impacted communities in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Imo States.
Mrs Abimbola Essien-Nelson, Media Relations Manager of the company, said this in a statement on Sunday in Lagos.
Essien-Nelson quoted Mr Osagie Okunbor, the Country Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC), to have said this recently in Ahoada, Rivers.
She said Okunbor called on other players in the region to join in the efforts to provide relief materials for people impacted by the recent floods and work together towards helping the victims restore their lives to normal.
Okunbor said Shell handed over food and other materials, as well as medical supplies to impacted communities and people housed in the camps for internally displaced people.
He said, “Shell is providing these relief materials because we do not want you to go through this sad experience alone as government and concerned institutions continue to work to make life go back to normal.
“This must be a most horrifying period for you, not being able to go about your normal lives and being exposed to all manners of health and livelihood challenges.”
He urged the affected people to utilise the services of the medical outreach of the company.
“They are very experienced and have been providing similar services across the Niger Delta to hundreds of thousands of people via our programmes,” he said.
Okunbor was represented by SPDC’s Corporate Lands Manager, Mr Trevor Akpomughe, who said, “This flood disaster affects many communities across Nigeria.
“For us, at Shell, we are providing support to people who are in communities where we have Shell operations and in IDP camps.
“You are our immediate neighbours, and as we have always shown, what affects you, affects us.
“So, these relief materials and medical outreach programme that we are providing, we are also providing them to other affected communities in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Imo States,” he said.
Earlier, Shell had announced that it would be spending 1 million dollars, exclusive of its joint venture partners in Nigeria, to support government’s efforts to provide relief to people impacted by the current flood disaster.
“This programme has started in Ahoada, Rivers State, where the Chairman of Ahoada East Local Government Area, Benjamin Eke, and representatives of the paramount ruler, Eze Kelvin Anugwo, were on hand to receive the materials,” said Okunbor.
The LGA Chairman, Eke, said: “My sincere appreciation to SPDC for this timely intervention. By this gesture the company should be seen as one that shows it cares for the people in this area.
“I want to personally thank SPDC for the robust medical attention and it is our hope that this gesture will ameliorate the hardships faced by the victims of the flooding in our communities.
“We wish to re-assure you of our commitment to partner with our key stakeholders in bringing the desired development to our host communities.
“Thank you for your understanding and we hope to see the situation return to normalcy soon. We assure you that there will be peace here and you will have a very smooth operation.”
According to the statement, Shell provided medical items that included pain-relieving creams and lotions, anti-diarrhea tablets, multivitamins and eye ointment.
Others are: disposable face masks, antivenom for snake bites, vaccines against tetanus and mosquito repellant creams.
(NAN)
