Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) led by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in collaboration with Social Action on Monday kicked against the divestment of oil assets in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
The coalition who converged in Abuja, alongside with King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agbada IV of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State expressed the opposition during an international press briefing held in Abuja, expressed grave concerns over the scourge of various forms of cancer among women, children and men living in Ekpetiama Kingdom of Bayelsa State.
The coalition specifically acknowledged that Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) “declined from recommending the so-called divestment, on the grounds that the new entrant, Renaissance, has not been able to show capacity, technically and financially, to go on with what they are taking over.”
The CSOs however expressed concerns over the turn of things, saying: “but the President, as Minister of Petroleum Resources, overruled them (NUPRC) and approved the acquisition.”
“So, if there’s any law or any regulation made by government that’s inconsistent with that provision of the Constitution, that law is null and void. So, if anybody brandishes any law or regulation, like an instrument of abracadabra, that shall, walking in car-hoods with the agents of Federal Government, have the right to do what they have done, that cannot be supported in law. Now, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights is an international treaty, and Nigeria has subscribed to that treaty.”
In his remarks, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey notes that there are many studies conducted “over the years. There was a study convened by Shell called the Energy Data Environmental Survey in the 90s, the outcome of which has not been made a public document.
“So they themselves know the extent of the damage that they’ve inflicted on the region. We also have the United Nations Environment Programme report on Ogoniland, another part of the energy data, that has shown that there’s so much harm also done in that territory where the cleanup process has started. So the evidence, the documents are there.
“The report was paid for by the polluters, including the polluter from the Nigerian state, NNPC. So they have the facts, they have the information, they know what is going on.”
According to him, during one of the surveys conducted, experts “took samples from over 80 women, blood samples, and in all the samples they found high levels of hydrocarbon, total hydrocarbon pollution. Imagine having all the women sampled, having hydrocarbon. That means everybody, including the king here, must have hydrocarbon in their blood.
“And so jokingly we say that we are all highly inflammable. So don’t bring naked flames near anybody from the Niger Delta, got hydrocarbon in their blood. This is not normal. Now the Bayelsa state government has received the report of the commission that it set up, and the report will be given to the president of Nigeria. And so we’re expecting that the government will do something, will take steps to ensure that the recommendations of the report are implemented. In fact, the international working group made up mostly of members of who were in the Bayelsa state oil and environment commission are very concerned that recommendations will be implemented.
“And this is why the working group is also working continuously and will continue to press and to produce and present further documentation. There are many reports that could not be contained in the Bayelsa report titled environmental genocide. And there are plans to bring this to the public sphere so that nobody should ever be left in doubt about the ecocide that has been the lot of the region.
“And nobody would think that the reports and other reports can be swept under the carpet, or that the people should be left to languish without any remedy. This is the conviction of the international working group, and I believe this is also the position of the communities, and that’s what this case is also all about. Justice must be served.”
On his part, Social Action’s Programme Manager, Dr. Prince Edegbuo who expressed grief over the plight of the people living in oil producing communities, lamented Shell and its partners, including the Federal Government, profited while the people of the Niger Delta and the ecosystem diminished.
“For nearly 20 years, Social Action Nigeria has worked closely with frontline communities in the Niger Delta to expose systemic environmental and social injustices perpetrated by multinational oil companies. The story of the Ekpetiama Kingdom is an emblematic of the broader experience of communities across the region whose lands have been sacrificed on the order of fossil fuel extraction.”
While expressing confidence in the ongoing suit filed at the Federal High Court in Bayelsa State, Dr. Edegbuo said: “in this case, we see am opportunity to shift the narrative away from impunity and denial towards accountability, redress and repair. We must redefine what energy transition means for those who have borne the costs of extraction.
“Social Action Nigeria is proud to stand with the Ekpetiama people and other impacted communities. We support their legal challenge and broader struggle for recognition and restitution. Nigeria must rise above capture by vested interest. Our systems of justice and governance must serve the people, not just a few corporate profiteers and their enablers.
“We urge the Judiciary, civil society and the broader public to view this case as a watershed moment. Let it mark the beginning of an era where the lived condition of Nigerian Citizens matter.”
Expressing grave concern over the living condition of the host community, King Bubaraye Dakoko, Agbada IV of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State who spoke about the report on the study conducted in Bayelsa State Government had about six years ago “commissioned a commission of experts drawn from across the world, from America, England, and Nigeria, and Canada, to look at the effect of gas flaring in our environment.
“And I think it was deliberate, because when you go to court, they will say, where is the evidence? Who is bringing the evidence? And so Bayelsa State Government in 2018 commissioned that body. And it took them four years. They came around and took blood samples from Bayelsa and took these samples to Aberdeen, so they took it to where these guys (Shell) operate, took it to their labs.”
According to him, “the result is that for most of us, which means if you take my blood now you are going to likely get 1,000 times more than the World Health Organization allowed average, which means I am supposed to be dead. If you go to the hydrocarbons, again, I will have shown that I’m having well over 1,000 times what is permissible, which means I am cancer, as you have seen me.
“And so for everything, so abortions happen, children are born blind, children are born with all kinds of malfunctions. So the state did that, and then, of course, about two years ago, the report came out showing all of these. The report was taken to England, to the home, so to speak, of our promoters, and then it was launched last year at Bayelsa state, just so that there will be public awareness.
“And the report said that the damage is so much that Shell has to spend at least $1 billion every year to rehabilitate, to clean up, to restore the environment for a period of 12 years, which means $12 billion. And to be cruel of Shell, they have not said anything, because they knew that they are going to leave by midnight, so it’s not going to concern them. So that has been the state government’s effort.
“The State Government in some isolated places has taken steps, but they are limited. You can imagine the Federal Government taking Shell’s license to commission a bus to come to our river to put, what do you call it, a big dredger, 25-inch dredger, one of the largest in the world, in front of our community to dredge for one year plus. So well over 365 water dams, pumping sand from underneath our community.
“So most of the community is gone. What will the state do? They have a license. So the main problem has not really been the state at our state, but the state as national, because some persons could just be here.
“You’ve never been to the swamps, even for one day. Maybe I should use this opportunity to define for you who an oil thief is. It may not be necessary, but I think that it is necessary.”
He maintained that the oil thieves are not the youths being paraded on the television but those who own “properties in the best places in Abuja here. So Maitama, New Asokoro, Asokoro, and so on and so forth. And then of course in Lagos, Banana Island, Ikoyi, and such places. And then you have properties abroad. So in England, in London particularly, and then other parts of Europe and America. But some of them have whole streets. You can imagine having a whole street to yourself… They have properties like yachts. They have yachts for their enjoyment, one or two.
“They have private jets for their enjoyment, again one or two, and so on and so forth. Some of them have private refineries abroad. They have monies stashed in Swiss banks and HSBC banks and all kinds of banks across the world. That’s an oil thief. If he has to come to the Niger Delta, like I said, it is appalling for him to ever come to the Niger Delta.”
Also speaking, Lead Counsel for the Plaintiff, Barrister Chuks Uguru expressed optimism that the Plaintiff has “a good case. We have a good case.”
