This disturbing video from Al Jazeera shows what’s left of Chevron’s KS Endeavour gas rig, which exploded on 16 January 2012. Over 20 days later the site is still ablaze and the intense flames and plumes of smoke can be seen from the nearby fishing village. Local community activists released this footage:
In this guest blog post, Professor Anna Zalik of York University Canada explores how governments and multinationals criminalise protest and gloss over the environmental injustices of oil extraction.
Q: What does the Canadian Government’s fury at opponents of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline have to do with the Nigerian ‘legaloil’ campaign?
A: Both positions are about justifying private profits and criminalizing protest. Continue reading
On 16 January, between 4.30am and 5am, Chevron’s KS Endeavour drilling rig exploded six miles off the coast of Nigeria after the company lost control of the gas well. Two workers were reported killed. Ten days on, the fire continues to burn.
Photos courtesy of Morris Alagoa at ERA/FoE Nigeria. Continue reading
Click on the image to view the full video from NTD
Shell’s major oil spill at the offshore Bonga facility in Nigeria is threatening the livelihoods of at least 13 different coastal communities, reports Reuters. As thick crude oil continues washing up on Nigeria’s shoreline, Shell is denying responsibility and claims that “non-Bonga oil” from a third party spill is to blame. A local resident from Bisangbene told the Vanguard newspaper that Shell’s Bonga spill had ruined livelihoods in the fishing village. Mr. Goodnews Gereghewei said:
our occupation is predominantly fishing and our fishermen have withdrawn from the sea because of the massive oil spill due to fear of being roasted alive since they fish mostly at night with local lamps.
Nigeria’s oil spill agency, NOSDRA, says that Shell’s Bonga oil spill “is likely the worst [offshore spill] in a decade.”
Peter Idabor of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency told The Associated Press on Thursday that oil from the spill in Shell’s Bonga field has spread to roughly 100 nautical miles. Idabor said he expects oil to begin washing ashore on Nigeria’s southern coast later Thursday.
Amnesty International today demanded that Shell immediately pay $1 billion towards an initial clean up fund for the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta, a scheme recommended by the UN this August.
A new report today published by Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) has called on Shell to accept responsibility for the pollution caused by oil spills in the Niger Delta, and to begin by paying US$1 billion as an initial down-payment towards the clean-up.
Counting the Cost, Platform’s new report on Shell Nigeria, is now available in print! Please buy your copy here. The report looks and feels incredible, thanks to our amazing designers at Ultimate Holding Company.
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Within a day of the US Supreme Court decision to hear the case of Kiobel v Shell, which accuses Shell of complicity in crimes against humanity and human rights abuses in Nigeria during the 1990s, the oil giant was hit by another class action lawsuit for 50 years of pollution in the Niger Delta.
AFP reports:
The suit was brought on behalf of the people of Ogale in the Eleme local government area, where the UN [Environment Programme] team found the most serious groundwater contamination and people drinking water laced with cancer-causing benzene at 900 times World Health Organization guidelines.
New research from ActionAid has exposed the multinationals dodging taxes in Nigeria. Shell is considered to be among one of the biggest offenders. As Tunde Aremu of ActionAid reports:
Shell, with its massive interests in the Niger Delta, has 18 subsidiary companies located in Nigeria, but 455 in tax havens around the world. BP has six companies in Nigeria, but 537 registered in tax havens.
While this research does not prove tax avoidance in itself, multinationals need to explain why they have so many subsidiaries registered in tax havens. There are great challenges with getting accurate data on how much countries actually lose due to tax avoidance and the financial secrecy that tax havens create makes the task even more difficult. Despite this, it is suspected that the amounts lost would be enough to solve many of the country’s development challenges.
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This blog first appeared on Amnesty International UK’s new blog, Press Release Me, Let Me Go. We reproduce it here with these fantastic images from Environmental Rights Action, FoE Nigeria.
Who can stop them?
In the case of Shell in Nigeria this is a question well worth asking. Over the past few months, Shell’s appalling legacy of pollution and human rights abuses has been globally condemned by the media, NGOs and even Nigerian legislators. In August, the UN exposed the horrifying impact of oil spills in Ogoni, many of which are from Shell’s facilities. The UN report reminded us of the fact that Shell operates in Nigeria well below international standards and that the company tries to cover up the extent of its pollution by certifying heavily contaminated sites as “clean”. Last week, Platform released a “bombshell” report which revealed that Shell has fuelled recent human rights abuses in Nigeria by paying huge contracts to armed militants, and relied heavily on Nigerian government forces who have perpetrated systematic human rights abuses against local residents.
But who or what can stop Shell from abusing human rights?
The past week has provided three possible answers. Continue reading