The proposed sale of Shell’s onshore oil business in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria risks worsening human rights abuses and should be blocked by the government unless a series of safeguards are put in place, a group of 40 civil society organizations including Amnesty International said today.
In an open letter to the Nigerian industry regulator, the groups said the sale of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to Renaissance Africa Energy should not be allowed to proceed unless the environmental pollution caused by SPDC has been fully assessed, sufficient funds are provided by SPDC to guarantee clean-up costs can be covered, and local communities have been fully consulted.
Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta over many decades have come at the cost of grievous human rights abuses of the people living there. Frequent oil leaks from its infrastructure and inadequate maintenance and clean-up practices have left groundwater and drinking water sources contaminated, poisoned agricultural land and fisheries, and severely damaged the health and livelihoods of inhabitants,” said Olanrewaju Suraju, chairman of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA).
Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director, said: “There is now a substantial risk Shell will walk away with billions of dollars from the sale of this business, leaving those already harmed without remedy and facing continued abuse and harms to their health. Guarantees and financial safeguards must be in place to immediately remedy existing contamination and to protect people from future harms before this sale should be allowed to proceed. Shell must not be permitted to slip away from its responsibilities for cleaning up and remedying its widespread legacy of pollution in the area.”
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