Nigeria: Oil in the Niger Delta threatens lives
Posted: 3 November 2005
ODIOMA, NIGERIA: A villager walks through the ruins of the southern Nigerian community of Odioma, a fishing and trading centre, and a historic centre for the Ijaw people in the oil-rich Niger Delta. It was burned to the ground on 19 February 2005 by government troops hunting a local militia leader accused of ordering the murder of 12 people from a neighbouring village during a dispute over the ownership of the proposed site for a new oil well.
DAVE CLARK/AFP/Getty Images
It is like paradise and hell. They have everything. We have nothing… If we protest, they send soldiers. They sign agreements with us and then ignore us. We have graduates going hungry, without jobs. And they bring people from Lagos to work here. Eghare W.O. Ojhogar, chief of the Ugborodo community in Delta State
On 4 February 2005, soldiers fired on protesters at Chevron’s Escravos oil terminal on the coast of the western Niger Delta. One man was killed and at least 30 others were injured. The protest was over the company's failure to fulfil an agreement to provide jobs and development projects to the local Ugborodo community.
Just two weeks later, at least 17 people were reported to have been killed and two women raped when soldiers raided the town of Odioma. The attack was ostensibly to arrest members of an armed vigilante group suspected of killing 12 people, including four local councillors. Members of this group were reported to have been recruited by a sub-contractor of Shell's subsidiary in Nigeria and to be responsible for security in an area where oil exploration was being conducted, despite their alleged criminal record. The suspects were not captured but 80 per cent of homes in Odioma were razed.
Ten years ago, Ken Saro-Wiwa fought against those damaging the environment, creating a "wasteland" that endangers people's health and livelihoods. Ken and eight others were executed for their activism on 10 November 1995. Today, the exploitation of oil in the Niger Delta continues to result in injustice, violence and deprivation.
TAKE ACTION on Chevron:
Call on Chevron to:
- Commission an independent and impartial investigation into Chevron Nigeria ’s role, responsibility and conduct in relation to incidents on 4 February 2005 at Escravos terminal in which the security forces allegedly killed, injured and attacked civilians
- Suspend all security arrangements with individuals who have allegedly abused human rights and terminate the arrangements if the individuals are found after investigation to be responsible for such abuses; and make public the findings of such investigation
WRITE TO:
David J. O'Reilly
Chairman of theBoard and Chief Executive Officer
Chevron Corporation
6001 Bollinger Canyon Rd
San Ramon, CA 94583, USA Fax: +1 925 842 3610
TAKE ACTION on Shell:
Call on Shell to:
- Investigate allegations of a security arrangement between Shell Nigeria subcontractor and a criminal group in Odioma
- Make public the findings of such investigations
- Halt immediately any subcontractual relationship that is found to benefit criminals either directly or indirectly
WRITE TO:
Jeroen van der Veer
Chief Executive Officer
Shell International
Shell Centre
London SE1 7NA, UK Fax: +1 925 842 3610
FURTHER BACKGROUND: Oil and Injustice in Nigeria
The Nigerian government’s failure to protect human rights is turning communities to oil companies for jobs and essential services.
Some company-funded projects work well, but others are run poorly and are accessible to only a few communities. Often companies do not deliver what they promise, causing resentment and community protests, which result in security forces razing communities and killing people.
Ten years after the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the struggle for justice for the people in the Niger Delta continues.
The execution of writer and human rights campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists, (the “Ogoni nine”) on 10 November 1995, raised a storm of outrage across the world. Their deaths highlighted the suffering of the Ogoni people in the oil-rich delta of the Niger river. The Nigerian government was widely denounced and the oil company Shell condemned for its ambiguous and belated interventions.
But 10 years later, how much has changed for the people of the Niger Delta?
Ken Saro-Wiwa fought for an end to the environmental damage that was turning his homeland into what he described as a “wasteland”, endangering the people’s health and livelihoods. Today oil spills still blacken the land and pollute the waterways. Hundreds of gas flares burn day and night, filling the sky with soot and fumes. Operational practices such as these, so close to people’s homes, farms and waterways, would not be tolerated in the countries where the oil companies have their headquarters.
The inhabitants of the Niger Delta remain among the most deprived oil communities in the world – 70 per cent live on less than US$1 a day. In spite of its windfall gains, as global oil prices have more than doubled in the last two years, the Nigerian government has failed to provide services, infrastructure or jobs in the region.
The military government which executed Ken Saro-Wiwa and his companions was replaced in 1999 by a civilian government. Yet government security forces continue to kill people in the Niger Delta with impunity. Excessive force is used to protect the oil industry and restore law and order – and the human rights of communities are regularly violated.
The powerful oil companies operating in the region are perceived by communities and many activists on the ground as complicit in past human rights abuses. Some oil companies have admitted that their operations have contributed to fuelling conflict. In recent years, under pressure to demonstrate corporate responsibility, companies have developed voluntary codes of conduct, but these have not been able to reduce the negative impact of their operations in the region.
The Delta's marginalized peoples have no effective recourse against such human rights abuses. It is time for the Nigerian government to end the impunity enjoyed by the security forces for human rights violations past and present. It is time for oil companies and the international community to ensure that business operates within a framework of international human rights standards for companies, like the UN Norms for Business. Ten years after the "Ogoni nine" were executed, it is time for justice for the people of the Niger Delta.