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Shell ‘not honest’ about oil spill clean up in Nigeria
The inadequate clean up left thousands of people exposed to contaminated land, water and air, in some cases for years or even decades. Either no clean-up had been carried out or had been done badly, the groups suggested, adding that other spills may have happened since.
Activists have long highlighted the problem of oil spills in Nigeria and the impact on local populations, most of whom rely on fishing and farming to earn a living.
Ogoniland has become a symbol of Nigeria’s troubled relationship with oil, which has made government officials and oil majors rich but done little for local people.
Amnesty has previously accused Shell of not implementing the UNEP recommendations, which said at the time the clean up could take 30 years and cost US$6 billion. The latest report also criticized the government watchdog the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, accusing it of certifying areas as clean when they were not.
The agency should be better-resourced and given more powers, as well as forced to become more accountable and transparent about its operations, the authors argued.
Shell ‘Committed’
Shell has not pumped oil from Ogoniland since 1993 when it pulled out because of unrest but still runs pipelines through the area. Activists say the pipelines are poorly maintained and old, making spills more frequent.
Amnesty and the CEHRD urged Shell to conduct proper clean-up operations but the company’s Nigerian subsidiary itself said it rejected the groups’ claims. In a letter, published in the report, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria said it was “committed to the implementation of the UNEP report”.
It had “initiated action on all the recommendations addressed directly to it”, it added. “We disagree with the assertions made with regard to implementation – and would like to reiterate that we have consistently and publicly reported our actions in this regard as well as highlighted ongoing challenges of crude oil theft and illegal refining,” the letter read.
Copyright 2015 AFP
