… reject divesting by shell
Civil society organizations, specifically, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) have condemned the latest move by oil giant, Shell to exit the country and at the same time planning to divest its operation without cleaning up the Niger Delta environment and paying relevant compensations.
The groups said they would stop at nothing to ensure that Shell and other oil companies including Chevron are made to pay for all the environmental damages done to the oil communities as well as health hazards committed through polution.
The aggreived groups and some indigenes of the Niger Delta at a protest in front of the Shell office at Marina Lagos, Nigeria, demanded that Shell must commit to implementing the reclamation measures recommended by independent environmental audits and pay adequate compensation to those who have borne the brunt of its profit-driven operations.
Activists Comrade Zikora Ibeh of ÇAPPÀ and Comrade Martin among others spoke at the protest ground, insisting that Shell must be held accountable for it’s environmental attrocities.
The protesters carried placards with some inscriptions such as “” Shell has shown us hell”” “” Yes to reparatory justice” “” No to delayed responsibility”” “” Stop the Shell fire”” ”Own up and pay up” ‘No clean up, no divestment” , ” Stop corporate capture” among others.
A Joint Statement issued by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) signed by Akinbode Oluwafemi (CAPPA) and Rev Nnimmo Bassey (HOMEF) reads in part “” While the entire leadership of Shell, including its Chairman, Board Members, Directors, and Stakeholders, convenes today in the United Kingdom for its Annual General Meeting (AGM), we gather here in front of its Lagos Head Office in Nigeria to re-state our longstanding grievances.
“Indeed, Shell’s shareholders would rather choose the comfort of the Intercontinental London Hotel to review their deceitful and environmental devastation strategies without any regard for the dignity and sanity of people who are at the receiving end of their hazardous operations.
‘ They would rather prefer the cozy ambience of artificial nature than care about the growing impact and problems their reckless oil extraction inflicts upon vulnerable communities in Africa and elsewhere.
” In Nigeria, the absurdity reaches new heights as Shell sets to divest its onshore business and offload its toxic assets to Renaissance – a consortium of five companies, including four local exploration and production entities and an international energy group.
” This polluting corporation, after decades of mindless operations in the country’s Niger Delta region, is about to flee from its atrocities, leaving behind a wake of destruction – of farmlands and water bodies now contaminated with huge deposits of petroleum and of poor communities, livelihoods, and public health wrecked by years of its merciless extractive onslaught.
” To make matters worse, Shell’s plan to sell its onshore assets is a further act of mischief, especially considering that the new buyers are companies with shadowy backgrounds and limited capacity to manage the corporation’s extensive liabilities.
“We demand that the Nigerian government and governments worldwide prioritise human and environmental dignity over corporate profits.
“Nowhere is the failure of governance and corporate exploitation more apparent than in the Niger Delta.”
The statement noted further that “Our call today is for justice. We demand that governments stand with the people, not the profiteers. We call for the enforcement of policies that protect the common good and political will from the government to hold big polluters accountable.
” The time for action is now!Shell has dominated the Nigerian extractive industry, and its operations have had severe consequences, including climate change, regulatory infractions, and environmental injustice.
” Shell and Chevron’s inhumane operations in Nigeria and beyond have caused both economic and non-economic losses, hence the strong resistance against them, as seen in the number of lawsuits filed against them for environmental damages and human rights abuses.
” Shell, in a series of attempts to escape liability and social scrutiny, continues to hire image makers and negotiators to silence the just agitations of the people of the Niger Delta, as evidently seen in the destruction of Ogoni land in Rivers State””.
The group made further demands including “”To return dignity back to the people stripped of it, and we call for an independent and comprehensive assessment of the environment of the entire Niger Delta.
“” An open and comprehensive health audit of the people living in extractive communities across the Niger Delta.
“” A cleanup, remediation, and restoration of all polluted and contaminated areas linked to Shell’s extractivism.
“That Shell and Chevron be held accountable for the destruction of communities in the Niger Delta.
” That divestment and/or expansion plans follow due process of decommissioning
”That the Nigerian Government’s environmental and climate change policies be weaned off unfounded corporate language, including false solutions such as Net Zero.
“” That communities are recognised as major stakeholders that must be afforded expression on matters that concern their safety and survival.”
Source: Sun News Online