Pollution in Niger Delta: A human rights tragedy

Pollution in the Niger Delta: A human rights tragedy

Amnesty International is calling the situation in the Niger Delta a "human rights tragedy," as it releases its ground-breaking report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta.

"Decades of pollution and environmental damage caused by the oil industry in the Niger Delta have had a devastating impact on people's rights to food, water, health and livelihood, driving them into poverty," says Patrick Holmes, CEO of Amnesty International Aotearoa NZ.

Amnesty's report reveals how the Nigerian Government has failed to live up to its obligation to protect the human rights of its people by allowing oil companies to show a shocking disregard for the human impact of their activities.

"People living in the Niger Delta drink, cook and wash in polluted water. They eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins. The land they farm is being destroyed. People complain of breathing problems and skin lesions – and yet neither the Nigerian Government nor the oil companies monitor the human impacts of oil pollution," says Holmes.

The report exposes oil spills, gas flaring, waste dumping and other environmental impacts of the oil industry. The majority of the evidence on pollution and environment damage documented by Amnesty International relates to the operations of Shell, the main oil company operating in the Niger Delta.

"Oil companies such as Shell are not free to ignore the consequences of their actions just because the Government has failed to hold them to account," says Holmes.

"Despite claims to be a socially and environmentally responsible corporation, Shell continues to directly harm human rights through its failure to adequately prevent and mitigate pollution and environmental damage in the Niger Delta."

"The poverty and conflict that continues to scar the Niger Delta will not be resolved until the Nigerian Government garners enough political will to deal with the oil company activities that cause widespread damage to human rights," adds Holmes.

Note to editors:
On 1 July 2009, Mr Peter Voser will take over as the new Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell. As the new Chief Executive he inherits the legacy of Shell's failures and poor practice in the Niger Delta. This legacy is – in significant part - the result of Shell's failure to effectively prevent and address environmental damage and pollution caused by its operations. Amnesty International has sent Mr. Voser a copy of its report, and called on him to make cleaning up Shell's operations in the Niger Delta a top priority. As a first step – Amnesty International has joined colleagues from the Niger Delta to ask Mr Voser to 'come clean' on Shell's impact on human rights by disclosing critical information and making a public commitment to assessing the social and human rights impact of Shell's operations.

Within New Zealand, Amnesty's Environmental Defender's Network (EDeN) is campaigning on the Niger Delta case to hold the Nigerian Government and multi-national oil companies to account. EDeN is the first Amnesty Network globally to focus on the protection of environmental and human rights issues. For more information about EDeN, visit www.amnesty.org.nz/contribute/specialistnetwork/EDeN

Visit www.amnesty.org.nz to download a copy of Amnesty International's report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta

ENDS

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