Massive oil pollution in Niger Delta The UN shows evidence of the devastating impact of oil pollution on people in the Delta The UN shows

UN confirms massive oil pollution in Niger Delta

The UN shows evidence of the devastating impact of oil pollution on people in the Delta

© Kadir van Lohuizen/NOOR

Shell's systemic failure to address oil spills for many years is addressed in the report

© Kadir van Lohuizen/NOOR

4 August 2011

The oil company Shell has had a disastrous impact on the human rights of the people living in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, said Amnesty International, responding to a UN report on the effects of oil pollution in Ogoniland in the Delta region.

The report from the United Nations Environment Programme is the first of its kind in Nigeria and based on two years of in-depth scientific research.

It found that oil contamination is widespread and severe, and that people in the Niger Delta have been exposed for decades.

“This report proves Shell has had a terrible impact in Nigeria, but has got away with denying it for decades, falsely claiming they work to best international standards,” said Amnesty International Global Issues Director, Audrey Gaughran, who has researched the human rights impacts of pollution in the Delta.

The report, which was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government and paid for by Shell, provides irrefutable evidence of the devastating impact of oil pollution on people’s lives in the Delta – one of Africa’s most bio-diverse regions.

It examines the damage to agriculture and fisheries, which has destroyed livelihoods and food sources. One of the most serious facts to come to light is the scale of contamination of drinking water, which has exposed communities to serious health risks.

In one case water was found to contain a known carcinogen at levels 900 times above World Health Organization guidelines. UNEP has recommended emergency measures to alert communities to the danger.

The report reveals Shell’s systemic failure to address oil spills going back many years. UNEP describes how sites that Shell claimed were cleaned up were found by UNEP experts to be still polluted.

“Shell must put its hands up, and face the fact that it has to deal with the damage it has caused. Trying to hide behind the actions of others, when Shell is the most powerful actor on the scene, simply won’t wash,” said Audrey Gaughran. “There is no solution to the oil pollution in Niger Delta as long as Shell continues to focus on protecting its corporate image at the expense of the truth, and at the expense of justice”.

The report’s findings also expose the serious failure of the Nigerian government to regulate and control companies like Shell. UNEP found that Nigeria’s regulators are weak and Nigeria’s oil spill investigation agency is often totally reliant on the oil companies to do its work.

The Nigerian government, the oil companies, and the home governments of these companies, such as the UK and Netherlands, have all benefited from oil extraction in the Niger Delta and should now support a social and environmental rehabilitation process, said Amnesty International.

“This report should also be a wake-up call to institutional investors. In the past they’ve allowed Shell’s Public Relations machine to pull the wool over their eyes, but they will now want to see the company cleaning up its act in the Niger Delta - that means putting real pressure on Shell to avoid spillages, compensate those already affected and disclose more accurate information on their impacts,” said Audrey Gaughran.

The UN report notes that there are other, relatively new, sources of pollution in Ogoniland, such as illegal refining but it is clear that Shell’s poor practice stretching back decades is a major factor in the contamination of Ogoniland.

On 3 August 2011 it was widely reported that Shell had accepted liability for two major spills in Ogoniland in 2008. The spills at Bodo, which severely damaged the livelihoods of the community, have still not been cleaned up almost three years later.

The oil industry in the Niger Delta started commercial production in 1958 following the discovery of crude oil at Oloibiri by Shell British Petroleum (now Royal Dutch Shell). Today, the oil industry is highly visible in the Niger Delta and has control over a large amount of land. Shell alone operates over 31,000 square kilometres.

The oil and gas sector represents 97 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange revenues and
contributes 79.5 per cent of government revenues. Oil has generated an estimated $600 billion since the 1960s.

The oil industry in the Niger Delta comprises both the government of Nigeria and subsidiaries of multinational companies such as Shell, Eni, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobil, as well as some Nigerian companies.

According to the UN Development Program (UNDP), more than 60 per cent of the people in the region depend on the natural environment for their livelihood.

According to UNDP, more than 6,800 spills were recorded between 1976 and 2001, with a loss of approximately 3 million barrels of oil. Many experts believe that due to under-reporting the true figures may be far higher.

Under Nigerian regulations oil companies must clean up all oil spills. However these regulations are not enforced.

Read More

Nigeria: Clean up oil pollution in the Niger Delta (Postcard, 9 May 2011)
Shell accused over misleading figures on Nigeria oil spills (News, 25 January 2011)
UN must not use flawed data on cause of Nigeria oil spills (23 August 2010)
Nigeria: Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta (Report, 30 June 2009)

Source: Amnesty

A new report by United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has laid bare how oil pollution in the Niger Delta has destroyed the environment and the lives of people living in poverty. The report confirms that Nigeria’s government has failed to hold the oil industry to account, and the oil companies have failed to clean up pollution.

Please help us spread the message that it’s time for the oil industry and the Nigerian government to Wake Up and Clean Up! Disseminate the press release to your networks, and use the attached Twitter and Facebook messages to get the word out via social media. The Nigerian government has a duty to protect the people of the Niger Delta from the impact of pollution. Amnesty International is urging Nigeria’s newly-elected President to commit to a comprehensive clean-up of pollution in the Niger Delta.

Women stand next to an oil wellhead that has been regularly spilling crude oil since 2004 near the community of Ikot Ada Udo inthe Niger Delta © Kadir van Lohuzien / NOOR

Tell the President to commit to a clean up of the Niger Delta

In 2008, two major oil spills occurred at Bodo Creek in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta. The oil poured into the swamp and creek for weeks. Almost three years on, the pollution has not been cleaned up. Amnesty International visited Bodo in May 2011. Watch our video showing the ongoing damage and the human impact including how livelihoods and sources of food for community members like Pastor Christian Lekoya Kpandei have been destroyed.