Environmental and human rights activists are calling on the Nigerian government to block plans to sell Shell's Niger Delta operations. As VOA correspondent Henry Ridgwell reports, activists are demanding that oil giant Shell first pledge to do more to tackle pollution in the region caused by the oil industry.
For decades, major energy companies such as Shell have extracted oil from the Niger River Delta. This has brought billions of dollars in profits to oil companies and the Nigerian government. But residents have long complained about extensive environmental damage.
“We cannot cultivate agricultural plants. The water is no longer drinkable. You can't fish because the fish are dying or dead,” says Florence Kayemba from the Democratic Stakeholder Network.
Shell announced plans in January to pull out of the Niger Delta, selling its Nigerian subsidiary, licenses and mining infrastructure to a consortium of five mostly local firms. Shell says this is part of a plan to move away from fossil fuels.
Civil society groups say Shell should do more to clean up the environment before it leaves. A recent report by the Dutch organization Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations warned that the sale plan is a 'ticking time bomb'.
“We are very concerned about the legacy of pollution left behind by Shell and other oil companies that have withdrawn from the Niger River Delta. We believe it is very important that the federal government looks into these issues because the oil will not flow forever,” says Florence Kayemba of the Democratic Stakeholder Network.
But oil companies have often blamed theft and sabotage for oil spills, a claim that has been disputed by environmental groups. Residents of these areas are also trying to make money from small-scale oil production, says Ms Kayemba.
“We have a situation where the small-scale processing of oil by residents is reinforcing the argument on what happened before. So that the pollution already existed. This complicates efforts to understand who is to blame for this?” says Florence Kayemba of the Democratic Stakeholder Network.
The report by the Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations claims that Shell is selling its operations to domestic companies that may not have the finances, or the will, to deal with aging infrastructure.
Shell said in a statement that its recall program will allow regulators to “apply review a wide range of issues” and that final approval is in the hands of the government. The firm said it would continue to use its “technical expertise”, under the terms of the sale to the new buyers.
The Nigerian government has signaled that it intends to approve plans to sell Shell's operations. Nigeria's Ministry of Petroleum Resources did not respond to VOA's requests for comment.
