Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the
Federal Government to “stand up to powerful oil companies that have
continued to abuse the human rights of the people of the Niger Delta with
impunity for decades if it is to satisfactorily resolve the crisis in the
region.”
Against the background of continuing crisis in the Niger Delta fuelled by
the activities of the ‘Niger Delta Avengers’ who are relentlessly bombing
the country’s oil infrastructure and have slashed its crude output, SERAP
in a statement today by the organization’s executive director Adetokunbo
Mumuni said that, “An important part of the solution to the human rights
crisis is for President Muhammadu Buhari to implement the ECOWAS Court
judgment which ordered the Nigerian government to punish oil companies
over oil pollution and devastation in the region.”
The statement reads in part: “This government should make sure that the
activities of oil companies in Nigeria bring development to the people,
rather than a string of needless human rights tragedies.”
“The government of former President Goodluck Jonathan ignored the judgment
and showed no political will to hold to account oil companies that have
for many years continued to destroy the livelihoods of tens of thousands
of people with almost absolute impunity. President Buhari shouldn’t repeat
Jonathan’s mistake. He should make sure that his government adheres to
this judgment without further delay.”
“Oil companies, particularly Shell, have managed to evade responsibility
for far too long. And successive governments have allowed them to do so,
putting profits before people. As a result, communities badly affected by
oil pollution are sinking further into poverty, unable to eat the
contaminated fish or drink the water, stained black from the pollution.”
“It’s also clear that oil companies wield tremendous influence over the
regulatory regime that governs their operations. That has to change for
the good and peace of the region. The change that Buhari champions should
include justice for the victims of oil pollution in the Niger Delta, and
that’s why the ECOWAS judgment is so significant because it provides the
framework for action.”
“The government should impose fines on oil companies for breach of
regulations over the past 10 years and take measures to punish the
companies. The government should also investigate the role that oil
companies and others have played and continue to play in the environmental
pollution in the region, and widely publish the outcome of any such
investigation.”
It would be recalled that the ECOWAS Court of Justice in December 2012 in
a case brought by SERAP upheld the right of the people and communities of
the Niger Delta to a general satisfactory environment and to an adequate
standard of living.
The court unanimously ordered the government to: hold oil companies and
other perpetrators of the environmental damage accountable; ensure
reparation for the collective harm done to the communities; restore within
the shortest possible time the environment of the Niger Delta; and prevent
the occurrence of damage to the environment.
The court also found that “oil spills pollute water, destroy aquatic life
and soil fertility with resultant adverse effect on the health and means
of livelihood of people in its vicinity. The government has failed in
recent years to take any single action to punish perpetrators of oil
pollution. It is incumbent upon the Federal Republic of Nigeria to prevent
or tackle the situation by holding accountable those who caused the
situation (with the clear expectation of impunity) and to ensure that
adequate reparation is provided for the victims.”
The court further stated that the numerous laws passed to regulate the
extractive oil and gas industry and safeguard their effects on the
environment, the creation of agencies to ensure the implementation of the
legislation, and the allocation to the region, 13% of the revenue that
comes from natural resource extraction in the region to be used for its
development, have totally failed to prevent the continued environmental
degradation of the region, “as evidenced by the facts abundantly proven in
this case and admitted by the very same Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
SERAP’s case was brought on 23 July 2009 by its Solicitor Femi Falana,
SAN, against the President of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the
Federation, Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Shell Petroleum
Development Company, ELF Petroleum Nigeria ltd, AGIP Nigeria PLC, Chevron
Oil Nigeria PLC, Total Nigeria PLC and Exxon Mobil.
Article 15(4) of the ECOWAS Treaty makes the Judgment of the Court binding
on Member States, including Nigeria. Also, Article 19(2) of the 1991
Protocol provides that the decisions of the Court shall be final and
immediately enforceable.
SIGNED
Adetokunbo Mumuni
SERAP Executive Director
12/06/2016
www.serap-nigeria.org
Lagos, Nigeria
Twitter: @SERAPNigeria