Michael Mpari, 45, came out of the polluted waters in the creeks of Bodo, a community in Gokana Local Government area in Ogoni, Rivers State, drenched in crude oil from head to toe, carrying a broken 25 litre plastic container on his head and fishing net on his shoulder. Dejection was written all over his face like man who had just returned from a futile journey. Indeed, Mpari had gone fishing for two and half hours in the oily creeks, but like every other day, he only came back with few crabs and crayfish, which he would sell for about N200 to fish merchants who were already waiting for fishermen by the bank of the oil spill-ravaged river. Looking at the crabs covered in oily sheen with a strong smell of petroleum, Mpari said: "This is all I got in the past two and half hours of my journey today." Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) had claimed that it has started the clean up of Bodo oil spill sites, but the condition of living of the people, showed otherwise. The Federal Government had also in June 2016, flagged off the clean up of the entire Ogoni creeks and mangroves ravaged by crude oil spills, which has made life unbearable for the local people. The Guardian visit to Ogoniland showed that the affected communities were still covered with black thick crude oil, which means no major clean-up has been carried out, thereby exposing the residents to grave danger. In 2008 and 2009, two incidents of massive oil spills from the Trans-Niger pipeline devastated the Bodo coastline destroying every living thing in the river. While the community was still dealing with the spill, another from the Trans-Niger pipeline at Koloma-Zommadom road rocked the community, this time beyond imagination. Bodo and other neighbouring communities mangroves and farmlands were heavily polluted with crude oil spill, that destroyed opportunities, made fishing impossible, and ruined income that could have come from other aquatic resources. Though compensation has been paid to affected individuals ten years after the spill, the water still remains dark and slippery, the mangroves covered with black mud and the creeks, which are now a mixture of crude and water, have now become the only source of seafood classified as dangerous to health. Responding to the concern about the health implications of consuming such produce from polluted waters, Mpari, said: "We have no choice. This is what we eat and sell. Despite the spill, we still fish and take our bath in this polluted water. If you say we should stop selling and eating from the water, do you have an alternative for us"? With no opportunity to attend college due to poverty, this is the life Mpari has come to know and accept. "I do this every day. I have no other source of livelihood. Fishing is what our fathers taught us as young men to do in this community. If you take fishing away from us, you have succeeded in ruining our lives", he said, smiling as he has come to accept this way of life. Members of Bodo community had filed a lawsuit against Shell in a London High Court in March 2012 and received a £55 million out-of-court settlement and compensation from the company in 2015. The community had achieved this uncommon feat, working with a pro-development non-governmental organisation, Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) and a United Kingdom based law firm, Leigh Day. On the payment of the fund, It was agreed that £35 million will be split between those impacted by the spill who will each receive £2,200 (about N600,000) and £20 million will go to the community for the execution of legacy programmes and projects. Unlike some other youths in the community, Mpari did not get the N600,000 from Shell due to his inability to produce voters registration card, which was the means of identification before payment. Crude oIl The oil spill, which was described as the biggest ever, did not only destroy the streams and mangroves, it also wiped off various commercial fish ponds set up by individuals in the community. "I wish the spill did not happen. I wish my fish pond was not destroyed, and I wish we did not have to inhale the stench from the oil spill in the last 10 years," 67 years old Elder Agbibel Mkpee, said, eyes stained with tears. Mkpee lost his fish pond to the spill in 2008 and life has become miserable for the old man whose house is just beside the pond that is already covered with thick dark crude oil. Walking with his waist bent and pointing to the pond, Mpee said: "I built this pond at my young age and I had planned to use the proceeds to send my children to school before it was destroyed by the spill. Life has been very tough for me and my family, because we used to rely on the pond for feeding and general upkeep." Mkpee has been described as one of the most affected individuals by oil spill in the community. "I was earning a lot of money from fish farming. I was earning at least N100, 000 monthly from N50, 000 fingerlings. The business was very lucrative before the spill occurred," he said. Though Mkpee was one of the beneficiaries of the compensation paid by Shell to the community, the N1.8 million he received from Shell was used to provide shelter for his family. Mkpee who had 15 children but lost seven due to poverty and diseases, lived in a mud house where he and his family inhaled toxic fumes in the last 10 years before the compensation was paid. Though, the house has not been completed, the Elder said: "This is better than where I used to stay with my family. The spill ruined my business and our lives. We had no money to feed, no other business to engage in. Life became miserable." Despite receiving N1.8 million from Shell, Mkpee said he wants his pond back. "I appreciate our people who fought for us to get compensated, but my fish pond is worth more than that," he said. Another fish pond owner, Pastor Christian Kpandei was earning about N15,000 per day from his fish pond before the spill that totally destroyed his investment happened. "I was earning so much from my fish pond before the spill. I was not rearing only one type of fish. I had tilapia, mullet and had customers coming to buy from within and outside Bodo," he said. Kpandei was able to raise some money to build a concrete pond, but has not been able to raise the fund needed to buy fingerlings. "I have managed to build a pond at the back of my house, but there is no money to buy fingerlings and feeds," he lamented. Just like other local Bodo residents affected by the spill, Kpandei has not been able to send his children to school, as his only source of livelihood was eroded by spill. Though he got compensated, Kpandei committed the money to renovate his house because; having a roof over his head is the most important need for him. The Guardian visited the popular Bodo market, which used to be a centre for fish business. The market was filled with different species of frozen imported fish. "If you want to go fishing or to pick periwinkles, which is the major occupation for women in the community, you have to paddle your canoe for hours through several rivers to where there is lesser spill to either pick periwinkles or fish", says Madam Monica Kporuve Koroba, popularly known as Periwinkle Company, due to her expertise in picking of periwinkle. "Our men can paddle canoes for over five hours from the community to as far as Bonny Island waters just to catch fish and many of them had on several occasions come back with injuries sustained from attacks they received from people who saw them as intruders," she said.