Archived press release

Ten years on: Shell still not welcome in Nigeria

10 November 2005

Shell's operations in Nigeria are still harming communities and environment, 10 years on from the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, according to a report published today by Friends of the Earth in Nigeria [1]. In London, Friends of the Earth will be among the individuals and organisations marking the anniversary as part of Remember Saro-Wiwa [2].

Friends of the Earth, which has worked with Friends of the Earth in Nigeria to highlight the oil company's abuses overseas, is calling on the UK Government to bring in new laws to force UK companies to operate responsibly overseas and allow victims of corporate wrongdoing to seek justice through the UK courts.

On 10^th November 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa, the leader of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), and eight Ogoni colleagues were executed by the Nigerian state for campaigning against the devastation of the Niger Delta by the oil industry. Shell were widely criticised for failing to use their influence to stop the executions.

Friends of the Earth Nigeria (Environmental Rights Action)`s report details the environmental and social practices of Shell in the Niger Delta. The report uses case studies from communities in the Niger Delta area to expose how Shell continues to use obsolete facilities with the result that oil spills and blowouts have become a matter of routine, and gas flaring continues to pollute communities and farmland across the Niger Delta.

Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth Nigeria said:

"This report shows that the Niger Delta environment has not fared any better since those dark, evil days but rather that the forces of oppression have become entrenched and in cases, have become far more brutal than could have been imagined a decade ago. As the world continues to hunger for hydrocarbons, so the oil giants conveniently maintain a strangle hold on the Niger Delta in indifference to the cries of the people".

Friends of the Earth Corporates Campaigner Craig Bennett said:

"Shell's operations in Nigeria represent the text-book case study of communities and the environment suffering thanks to big business. It should be essential reading for any politician who claims to be concerned about the environment, human rights and development - especially in Africa."

"It's high time the UK Government stopped UK listed companies behaving badly abroad and offered access to justice for the victims of corporate wrongdoing. Only then will companies like Shell clean up their act. Only then will we have acted to stop this appalling story from happening again."

The chapters of the report cover the following issues:

• Continuing abuses in Ogoni and conflict in the community
• Continuing reckless environmental practices of Shell including burning of forests and community farmlands as a measure to contain oil spills
• Shell's plan to continue gas flaring beyond 2008.
• Fuelling of communal conflicts and using Nigerian military to abuse human rights.
• Corruption in Nigeria: Shell is accused of colluding with government officials to defraud the country and its peoples.
• False solutions: Shell's response to the crisis it creates is to deny responsibility, while the Nigerian government and "international community" promotes voluntary codes for the oil companies and military solutions to deal with communities.

Friends of the Earth Nigeria is calling for legally binding and internationally enforceable laws to protect peoples of the world from the abuses of Shell and other transnational corporations, as against sponsored voluntary codes and mechanisms for corporate self-regulation.

Notes

[1] www.eraction.org

[2] www.remembersarowiwa.org

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust