MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - The people of Ogoniland, Nigeria, continue to suffer the effects of 50 years of land, water and air pollution by oil giant Shell, a report by Amnesty International published Monday stated.
"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," Amnesty International’s Audrey Gaughran said.
The report, “No Progress: An Evaluation of the Implementation of UNEP’S Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland, Three Years On,” said that “Shell has not addressed the pollution identified by the UNEP and has continued to use deeply flawed clean-up practices. Beyond the implementation of some emergency measures the Government of Nigeria has also failed in its responsibilities to ensure the recommendations of the report are implemented.”
Nigeria, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is Africa's largest oil producer and its most populous nation, but the oil producing regions remain underdeveloped and polluted, with oil companies blaming gangs that attempt to steal crude oil as the main cause of spills.
In 1993 Shell withdrew from Ogoniland following local protests and has not been able to resume its operations. A tragic assassination of human rights campaigner Ken-Saro Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni community followed. Since then, Shell has been trying to reconcile with the people of Ogoniland, commissioning the UNEP in 2006 to carry out an environmental impact assessment.
In 2011 UNEP published a report detailing the contamination of the land and fisheries as well as on drinking water. Despite Shell’s claims that it cleans up oil spills “promptly and properly,” the report suggests otherwise, noting that it “does not achieve environmental standards according with Nigerian Legislation” with 22 out of 33 sites exceeding limits set by law.
The report further listed recommendations, among them to ensure that water wells with hydrocarbons were marked and that adequate water should be supplied to all households. However, community wells were found completely empty in January 2014.
The Nigerian government has not responded to the report’s suggestion of establishing an Oganiland Environmental Restoration Authority to oversee the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
Out of the 27 recommendations made by Amnesty International, none have been fully executed, it was reported.
Shell now faces a lawsuit in the UK from the Bodo community in the Niger Delta. The trial is expected to take place at the High Court of London May 2015. The case is the first time Shell has faced formal proceedings in the UK for its role in the Niger Delta pollution.
