LAGOS (AFP) – Nigeria and
Shell have done almost
nothing to ease oil pollution in
the Ogoniland area of the
Niger Delta, three years after a
landmark UN report called for a $1 billion dollar clean-up,
Amnesty International said
Monday. Environmental devastation in
Ogoniland has for many come
to symbolise the tragedy of
Nigeria’s vast oil wealth. Decades of crude production
filled the pockets of powerful
government officials and
generated huge profits for oil
majors like Shell, while
corruption and spills left the people with nothing but land
too polluted for farming or
fishing. Exactly three years ago, a
United Nations Environment
Programme report said the
area may require the world’s
biggest-ever clean-up and
called on the oil industry and Nigerian government to
contribute $1 billion. “Three years on and the
government and Shell have
done little more than set up
processes that look like action
but are just fig leaves for
business as usual,” said Godwin Ojo of Friends of the
Earth Nigeria, which partnered
with Amnesty and three
other groups in a new report
called “Shell: No Progress”.
Shell has not pumped crude
from Ogoniland since 1993,
when it was forced to pull out
because of unrest. Two years later,
environmental activist Ken
Saro Wiwa, who had fiercely
criticised Shell’s presence in
Ogoniland, was executed by
the regime of dictator Sani Abacha, one of the most
condemned episodes in the
region’s history. Nigeria returned to civilian
rule in 1999 after Abacha’s
death, but critics say the
governments elected since
have done little to improve
pollution in the Niger Delta. “No matter how much
evidence emerges of Shell’s
bad practice, Shell has so far
escaped the necessity to clean
up the damage it has caused,”
said Audrey Gaughran of Amnesty International. In April of 2013, Shell staff
returned to Ogoniland for the
first time in two decades to
study how best to
decommission their decaying
assets in the region. The company described the
move as “a key step” in
complying with the UNEP
report. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil
producer, pumping out
roughly two million barrels
per day.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/action-shell-nigeria-ogoniland-pollution-report-amnesty/
Shell have done almost
nothing to ease oil pollution in
the Ogoniland area of the
Niger Delta, three years after a
landmark UN report called for a $1 billion dollar clean-up,
Amnesty International said
Monday. Environmental devastation in
Ogoniland has for many come
to symbolise the tragedy of
Nigeria’s vast oil wealth. Decades of crude production
filled the pockets of powerful
government officials and
generated huge profits for oil
majors like Shell, while
corruption and spills left the people with nothing but land
too polluted for farming or
fishing. Exactly three years ago, a
United Nations Environment
Programme report said the
area may require the world’s
biggest-ever clean-up and
called on the oil industry and Nigerian government to
contribute $1 billion. “Three years on and the
government and Shell have
done little more than set up
processes that look like action
but are just fig leaves for
business as usual,” said Godwin Ojo of Friends of the
Earth Nigeria, which partnered
with Amnesty and three
other groups in a new report
called “Shell: No Progress”.
Shell has not pumped crude
from Ogoniland since 1993,
when it was forced to pull out
because of unrest. Two years later,
environmental activist Ken
Saro Wiwa, who had fiercely
criticised Shell’s presence in
Ogoniland, was executed by
the regime of dictator Sani Abacha, one of the most
condemned episodes in the
region’s history. Nigeria returned to civilian
rule in 1999 after Abacha’s
death, but critics say the
governments elected since
have done little to improve
pollution in the Niger Delta. “No matter how much
evidence emerges of Shell’s
bad practice, Shell has so far
escaped the necessity to clean
up the damage it has caused,”
said Audrey Gaughran of Amnesty International. In April of 2013, Shell staff
returned to Ogoniland for the
first time in two decades to
study how best to
decommission their decaying
assets in the region. The company described the
move as “a key step” in
complying with the UNEP
report. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil
producer, pumping out
roughly two million barrels
per day.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/action-shell-nigeria-ogoniland-pollution-report-amnesty/