Communities Demand Accountability From Shell Over Divestment Plans

By Edu Abade

Following divestment plans of oil multinational companies in the Niger Delta especially Shell, stakeholders have urged all communities affected by oil pollution to synergize and hold the multinational companies accountable for the environmental disasters caused by oil exploration, and to demand for reparations and compensation from divesting oil companies and their succeeding companies.

This was stated in a meeting of community representatives from Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa and Abia states, which held at the EDEN Resource Centre in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital to raise awareness of community members on the need to educate local communities on their rights and how to hold Renaissance Africa Energy Holdings and other local oil companies accountable for the continuous pollution of the Niger Delta region in the face of divestment by Shell and other oil multinationals.

Deputy Executive Director of EDEN, Alagoa Morris, who presided over the meeting, stated that the interactions and shared experiences of affected communities were necessary in order to strategize on how to collectively confront the polluters. He described the divestment of Shell as a ploy to escape the consequences of decades of environmental and human rights abuses, while operating under the guise of local oil companies.

While sharing their experiences in their communities, the issues of recurring oil spills, polluted lands and waters, low crop yields, health related issues, communal crisis and deaths, and lack of infrastructural development were the testimonies of all the communities represented. They condemned the divestment of Shell and other companies, saying that rhetorical divestment was just a name change, while the operators and their operations remain the same.

They lamented that the communities have become helpless in these dire situations, as intimidation and divide-and-rule tactics have been employed by these companies to keep the communities suppressed and silenced.

Speaking at the meeting, EDEN’s Programme Manager on Women and Gender, Keziah Okpojo spoke on the importance of women inclusion in climate and environmental justice system, not just to complete protest numbers but to also participate in decision making and advocacy efforts towards seeking justice and accountability, while comrades Akpotu Ziworitin and Sabastan Kpalaap highlighted the human and environmental rights of the people, as well as the need to continue to speak up to uphold their rights and ensure accountability from oil companies.

On her part, Media and Communication Manager of EDEN, Elvira Jordan, spoke on the role of Social Media in environmental advocacy and how communities can utilize the internet to expose injustices of the oil and gas sector, as social media provides a wide opportunity to reach the oil companies, government regulatory agencies, civil society organizations, human rights advocates and other stakeholders.

While presenting their testimonies, Ngbar Lezin, who represented Korokoro Community in Tai LGA of Rivers State, lamented that after decades of pollution by Shell, they have neglected the need to carry out a health audit of the people in the community, and a responsive medical care to cater for the multiple issues of stroke, miscarriages, early menopause and blindness that has swept across the community.

“Shell has been operating in our land since 1958 till today with nothing to show for it. Women between the ages of 20 and 30 years are experiencing early menopause, and other health challenges. There is a widespread issue of blindness due to the continuous flaring of gas. Since the beginning of oil and gas exploration and the complaints of the community on the health hazards, no health audit has ever been done in the community. Livelihood has been greatly affected.

“Some of our crops like the popular Ogoni yams are no longer growing in our land. We don’t have good schools for our children. Our women and girls have to trek for long distances before they can get water. Some of them are raped and harassed on the way. Peace is now a story of the past in our community due to the divide and rule system.

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“We have two chiefs and two youth leaders in our community now. Due to the continuous crisis, all projects in the community have been put on hold. From 1958 till now, we cannot point to one Shell retiree from our community. They don’t even employ our people as casual staff. Now Shell wants to divest and leave us like that without repairing the damages they have caused,” he said.

Also speaking, Okala Precious from Elebele Community in Bayelsa State, said the oil and gas experience of the community has been really bitter, pointing out that despite the continuous destruction of livelihoods and the near extinction of aquatic life, the succeeding company took over without any information to the people, except for a letter to one of the biggest families in the community to announce their coming.

“The company keeps tapping our resources without an equivalent dividend to show. Our environment is highly polluted. We’re experiencing health issues like stroke even among young people. Aquatic lives have been washed off, our fishes are gone, and our soil is no longer fertile. Certain crops such as Cocoyam have gone into extinction due to environmental pollution. Our youths are not employed or engaged by any of these companies.

“The only thing that gave us joy was our power supply but we are experiencing a decommissioning of which the generating set went bad a year ago. Even the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which is supposed to protect the community, prohibits us from protesting against the injustice we are experiencing,” he stated.

A representative of Abia State, Nelson Nwafor, decried the attitude of the companies to the people, as they have closed every window of dialogue by intimidating the community folks with security agencies.

“Our stories of pollution and environmental degradation are the same with other oil producing communities. Accessing these companies for a dialogue has become very difficult. They use security men and armed forces to intimidate the people, especially the youths when they speak up. When there is a spill, they use the divide and rule system to make sure that we do not speak up on what is right. We should strategize on how to engage these companies together, to demand accountability.”

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In his intervention, Jonah Gbemre from Iwherekan/Otu-Jeremi Community in Delta State, highlighted how the justice system has failed the host communities, citing the landmark judgment that was given to his community in 2002 to end gas flaring. According to him, the judgment has not been acted upon 23 years later. He added that communities need to work together in the fight for justice and accountability.

“My community is an evidence of how much the system is against the communities. Despite our court case with Shell which got a landmark judgment, there haven’t been any changes yet. Instead, the gas flaring points in our community have increased over the years. The health challenges in our community are numerous. Since we have tried as an individual community to seek justice and it hasn’t worked, we need to come together as a force, just like the 3 farmers that won a case against Shell and fight these oil multinationals together.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), under the Global Greengrants Funds (GGF) carried out a robust research on the impact of the operations of Shell Petroleum Development Company in Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers State, following the divestment of Shell, which involves the transfer of ownership of equity holdings to indigenous companies.

The findings of the research were compiled into a document titled: Shell’s Awkward Divestment in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, which serves as an advocacy material to guide the relevant bodies and agencies on how best to ensure that host communities are not shortchanged and plunged further into more environmental degradation through the divestment process.

Executive Director of EDEN, Barrister Chima Williams, who presented document to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and key stakeholders including Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Director of Communication, Mrs. Obiageli Onuora, former CSOs representative on the NEITI Board, Comrade Kola Banwo and National Coordinator, Publish What You Pay, Dr. Mustapha Mohammed, stressed the importance of implementing the recommendations of the research findings.

Williams also presented the publications to key stakeholders at the Environmental Management Disaster Risk Reduction Institute (EMDRRI), connecting with the President and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Stephen Ogboli as well as the Federal Ministry of Environment and the National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency.

‎The engagements were geared towards advancing transparency, accountability and stronger environmental governance for the common people of oil bearing communities in the face of divestment plans.