Posts under ‘Oil Spill’

Oil pollution in Kegbara-Dere (K-Dere) community in Ogoniland, Rivers State, Niger Delta, Nigeria. This community has experienced multiple oil spills since Shell started operations there in the 1960s. September 2015. © Michael Uwemedimo/cmapping.net

Shell’s pipelines in Ogoniland are old and poorly maintained. There have been several spills and in 2009 there was a huge fire, at the Bomu Manifold, at K. Dere, Rivers state. September 2015. © Michael Uwemedimo/cmapping.net

Dead periwinkles covered in oily mud from Bodo creek, Nigeria, May 2011. There were two massives spills in August 2009 from a poorly maintained Shell pipeline. © Amnesty International

Signboard warning people not to enter stream that has been contaminated by oil spills, Ogale, Rivers State, Nigeria. Every year there are hundreds of spills in the Niger Delta, and clean-up is often slow and ineffective. © Amnesty International

3.2 ENVIRONMENTAL CASES (Pages 16, 17, 18 & 10)

There are three separate legal proceedings taking place against Shell in Dutch and British courts relating to oil pollution. This has devastated the Niger Delta.

Data from Shell’s own spill incident reports reveal that from 2011-18 the company reported a huge number of spills – 1,010 – along the network of pipelines and wells that it operates.25 Spills have a variety of causes – from third-party tampering, to operational faults and corrosion of aged facilities. Shell blames most spills on theft and pipeline sabotage, and are not due to its own negligence.26 read more

Esther Kiobel and Victoria Bera sit with their lawyer as a Dutch court hears the first arguments in an historic case against Shell, in which the oil giant stands accused of instigating a raft of horrifying human rights violations committed by the Nigerian government against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, on February 12, 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands. © Pierre Crom/Getty Images

 KIOBEL AND OTHERS V SHELL

Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta were first, and most effectively, put under the spotlight in the 1990s by Ken Saro-Wiwa, an acclaimed Nigerian writer. Saro-Wiwa led a community organisation in his home area, Ogoniland, called the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). MOSOP said that while outsiders had grown rich on the oil that was pumped from under their soil, pollution from oil spills and gas flaring had, “led to the complete degradation of the Ogoni environment, turning our homeland into an ecological disaster.”10 read more

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer.4

Its industry is based in the Niger Delta, in the south of the country, where Shell first found oil in commercially viable quantities near the village of Oloibori in 1956, when Nigeria was still a British colony.5

The Niger Delta has since become Africa’s most valuable oil-producing region.

The industry is run by joint ventures between the Nigerian government and multinational companies. Shell has always been the most important of these. Shell runs its oil operations in Nigeria through its subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). It is a major shareholder and the operator of the country’s largest joint venture, which produces almost 40 percent of Nigeria’s oil.6 read more

On 28 August 2008 a fault in the Trans-Niger pipeline resulted in a massive oil spill into Bodo Creek in Ogoniland. The oil poured into the swamp and creek for weeks, covering the area in a thick slick of oil and killing the fish that people depend on for food and for their livelihood. © CEHRD

Amnesty International has been conducting research on human rights abuses linked to the oil industry in the Niger Delta since the mid-1990s.1 Working jointly with the Port Harcourt-based Centre for the Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), this has included investigations into the cause and impact of pollution in Ogale and Bodo, which are two of the communities that have brought cases against Shell.2 Amnesty International has also investigated Shell’s role in the military crackdown of the 1990s, reviewing thousands of pages of court depositions and internal company documents.3 read more

Cover photo: A Dutch court hears the first arguments in an historic case against Shell, in which the oil giant stands accused of instigating a raft of horrifying human rights violations committed by the Nigerian government against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, on February 12, 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands. © Pierre Crom/Getty Images

Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.

Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations.

Since Shell first discovered oil near the village of Oloibiri in 1956, the Niger Delta has become Africa’s most valuable oil-producing region and the Anglo-Dutch giant has earned billions of dollars. read more

Spills in Nigeria for Shell increased to 2,000 tonnes in 2019, from 157 incidents, the company has disclosed in its annual report, up from 1,600 tonnes from 111 incidents in 2018.

by Ed Reed: 12/03/2020, 10:50 am

These are predominantly a result of sabotage, the company said. Of the 164 spills of more than 100 kg of crude, 95% were the result of “illegal activities by third parties”. Flaring also increased in 2019 in Nigeria, by around 10%.

The number of spills caused as a result of its own operational issues fell to seven incidents, from 15 in 2018. This saw the volume of crude spilled fall to around 30 tonnes of crude, from 400 tonnes in 2018. Where there have been operational spills, SPDC pays compensation to people and communities. read more

MARCH 12, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) onshore Nigeria subsidiary saw a 41% rise in the number of crude oil spills due to theft or pipeline sabotage in 2019, the group said in its annual report.

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) also recorded a rise in the volume of oil spilt in the Niger Delta as a result of illegal activity to 2,000 tonnes in 2019 from 1,600 tonnes a year earlier.

Of a total 164 SPDC spills of more than 100 kilograms in the delta, 157 were due to theft and sabotage, Shell said. That compared with 111 spills due to sabotage in 2018. read more

Delegates to the UNPO Presidents meeting in Washington DC

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, has called for global support for the people of Ogoni in Nigeria to achieve Self Determination and protection from discrimination.

Speaking at the just-concluded meeting of presidents of the UNPO in Washington DC, United States of America, president of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke said the repression and discrimination against the Ogoni people in Nigeria was unacceptable.

Nsuke said it was unfortunate that a simple demand for justice was being repressed by the Nigerian authorities leading to the death of over 4000 persons and continues to endanger the lives of over one million Ogoni people. read more

The spread of deadly chemicals by Shell Petroleum Development Company in the waterways of Odimodi and its federated communities of Iduwini Kingdom (Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State), has triggered massive poisoning of the fish population and other aquatic bodies in its waters. There is fear that the chemicals will have great and far-reaching implications on human health and environmental issues.

FEBRUARY 17, 2020 / 9:28 PM

YENAGOA, Nigeria, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s state oil company and its joint venture partners have spent $360 million on cleaning up the Niger Delta oil heartland in the past two years, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Monday, but locals said little work had been done.

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest crude oil exporter. Oil sales account for around 90% of its foreign currency earnings but oil spills in the southern Niger Delta region have caused pollution and angered locals. read more

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) says the failed Ogoni cleanup exercise under the management of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has received a total of US$350,000,000 (Three Hundred and Fifty Million U.S. Dollars) since 2017 without anything to show for it.

Lamenting the corruption and looting going on in HYPREP yesterday (February 14, 2020) during a briefing in his office in Bori, headquarter of Khana local government area,  President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke said it was unfortunate that an overwhelming $350million, an estimated NGN128,000,000,000 (One hundred and twenty eight billion Naira) meant for the cleanup has been largely misappropriated due to the massive corruption in HYPREP. read more

In 2020 Shell will face unprecedented legal scrutiny over decades of human rights abuses in Nigeria, Amnesty International said today, as the oil giant braces itself for conclusions in a string of European court battles. Allegations range from complicity in unlawful executions to systemic pollution and environmental damage in the Niger Delta.

(RELATED: Investigate Shell for complicity in murder, rape and torture)

Amnesty International has been researching Shell’s activities in the Niger Delta for more than 20 years, compiling compelling evidence of the company’s role in human rights abuses. In a report released today, the organization highlights the various cases that are finally putting Shell’s harmful operations in Nigeria on trial. read more

Ikarama-Okordia (Nigeria) (AFP): 3 Jan 2020

Martha Alfred used to harvest 20 bags of cassava each year before an oil spill forced her to abandon her field and hawk roasted fish to survive.

Her smallholding at Ikarama-Okordia, a community in southern Nigeria’s Bayelsa state, became unfit for growing crops after crude from a nearby Shell facility spewed into the environment last August, she says.

Today, the 33-year-old mother of two looks angry and helpless, her woes compounded by downpours during the last rainy season that flooded her land. read more

The UK and US considered a navy-backed oil embargo against Nigeria, following the 1995 execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, a document released by the UK government reveals.

Saro-Wiwa and eight other campaigners from the Ogoni ethnic group were hanged on 10 November 1995.

They had been found guilty by a secret military tribunal of the murder of four Ogoni chiefs by a mob.

The nine denied the charge and said they had been framed.

Saro-Wiwa led mass protests against oil pollution in Nigeria’s Ogoniland.

The protests were seen as a major threat to Nigeria’s military ruler at the time, Gen Sani Abacha, and Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell.

• Fishermen at risk amidst the oil

• Militants cripple Nigeria’s oil sector

The executions led to Nigeria suspension from the Commonwealth. read more

Neil Munshi in Eleme, Nigeria:29 Dec 2019

Local people’s lack of faith is rooted in decades of mistrust in the authorities. In the 1990s, writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop) led non-violent protests seeking justice for the Ogoni over the severe environmental degradation in their homeland caused by oil extraction. The government responded with a brutal crackdown and in 1994 executed Mr Saro-Wiwa and eight others. Little has changed since. Ogoniland, like the broader Niger Delta, has become more polluted and development has stalled, with little to show for the billions of dollars in crude that has been extracted. read more

By Perez Brisibe

Ughelli — Ojobo community in Burutu local government area of Delta State has issued a 48hours ultimatum to Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC over what the community described as the non-implementation of an existing General Memorandum of Understanding, GMoU with the company.

The community is accusing SPDC of failing to release funds accrued to it under an existing GMoU it entered with the company as well as an immediate commencement of the Community Interdependency Electrification Project, CIEP. read more