Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria on Thursday said that it had been denied access by Ogoni communities to two oil wells, which were on fire in the area.
The two oil wells-Bomu 41 and 50 located in Gokana Local Government Area of the state, reportedly caught fire on January 3, 2006.
The fire had escalated since then as efforts to gain access to the oil wells had allegedly been frustrated by Ogoni communities.
A statement by the company, which was made available to our correspondent on Thursday, claimed that it had made adequate preparations to contain the fire but was stopped by the indigenes.
It said a joint team of SPDC officials, Rivers State Government representatives and fire fighters were on hand to combat the fire on January 4, but were advised by the Chairman of Gokana LGA, Fred Kpakol, not to do so in deference of the Ogoni Day celebration on that day.
The company pointed out that attempts to put out the fire last Saturday was unsuccessful due to technical reasons.
It regretted that after mobilising and arriving the site on Monday, the communities demanded payment of large sums of money before allowing the fire fighters access to the sites.
Shell said that the continued delay in putting out the fire could result in the destruction of the wells and the emergence of a serious environmental problem in the area.
But the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People disputed the claims by Shell, saying that the company was using the fire to destroy oil wells in Ogoni so as to prevent any other company from taking over from it.
MOSOP�s Information Officer, Mr. Baria-ara Kpalap, told our correspondent that the communities were merely asking Shell to make its operation open and that the indigenes had not demanded any amount from the firm.
�We are not asking for any money from Shell. What we want is for the company to make its activities in Ogoni transparent. But we are surprised at the level of blackmail being carried out against the Ogoni people by the company.�