The Other Gulf
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Aug 8, 2011
Here is an apt quote from Nnimmo Bassey in The Observer. Last year, as the Macoondo Well gushed thousands of barrels of oil into the belly of the Gulf of Mexico, Nnimmo drew our attention to the Niger Delta’s daily woes: We see frantic efforts being made to stop the spill in the US. But in Nigeria companies largely ignore...
The struggle for justice in Ogoni
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Aug 4, 2011
Here is a heartfelt comment piece in The Guardian on the local reaction in Ogoni to Shell’s oil spill payout. Shell has admitted liability but has a long way to go to make amends Oil spills destroyed my village in Nigeria and decades of environmental and social injustice are still to be addressed. By Patrick...
Shell to blame: Nigeria oil spills case creates media storm
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Aug 3, 2011
Shell’s environmental devastation in the Niger Delta came under heavy scrutiny today, as global media attention focused on the company’s admission of liability for two devastating oil spills in Nigeria in 2008-9. Here is a round-up of press coverage so far. Current estimates suggest that Shell could pay our over $410 million (£250m) in compensation....
Breaking: Shell admits liability for 2 oil spills in Nigeria
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Aug 3, 2011
In a potentially ground-breaking development, The Guardian reported today that Shell has accepted liability for two massive oil spills which devastated farmland in Bodo, Ogoniland in 2008. Shell faces a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars after accepting full liability for two massive oil spills that devastated a Nigerian community of 69,000 people and may...
UN Blames Media for Shell Scandal
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Aug 25, 2010
UNEP has found another person to blame for its troubles in Ogoniland: it’s all the media’s fault. After presenting Shell’s disputed oil spill data as fact, the Port Harcourt-based team of 100 scientists denied allegations that their report will clear Shell of responsibilty for the majority of oil spills. Nick Nuttal, spokeperson for UNEP, blamed...
Amnesty & FoE Slam UN’s Reliance on Shell Data
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Aug 24, 2010
Today Amnesty International joined the chorus of disapproval and outrage at UNEP’s decision to clear Shell of all responsibility for oil spills in Nigeria. UNEP has been widely criticised for recently using Shell data to announce that the company is only 10% responsible for the causes of oil spills. “Relying on these figures would be...
What’s Shell & UNEP Hiding in Nigeria?
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Aug 23, 2010
As any child educated in Nigeria will tell you, oil was discovered in Oloibiri, Nigeria in 1956. Oil spills in Nigeria date back to those early days of exploration and production and increased significantly with the expansion of infrastructure onshore and offshore in 1970s. All the more shocking then that Mike Cowing, the UNEP’s leading expert on...
UN Report Accused of Bias
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Aug 22, 2010
The top story in The Guardian today is the global outrage at a UNEP study which ‘exonerates’ Shell for oil spills in Nigeria. What started as an environmental audit of Ogoniland has become another manipulative PR strategy. A three-year investigation by the United Nations will almost entirely exonerate Royal Dutch Shell for 40 years of oil pollution in...
UNEP Report: More Harm Than Good?
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Aug 22, 2010
There are some things that the debate over oil spills in Nigeria cannot change. Under Nigerian law, Shell has principal responsibility to clean up all spills from its facilities, regardless of whether the cause is sabotage or neglect. And Shell has all the resources and technology to stop these spills from happening. If the UNEP...
Oil spills & military collusion continue in Niger Delta as Exxon’s offshore fields go down
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Jun 26, 2010
With the media searching for new angles on BP’s Gulf disaster, stories on the devastation in Nigeria and the “normality” of spills in the Delta are now finally making it back into the papers – see Benoit Faucon’s piece in the Wall Street Journal and Adam Nossiter’s NYT article. It’s about time, as several Exxon spills in quick...
Nigerian Regulators Need Real Powers
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Jun 22, 2010
Breaking years of silence, politicians and regulators in Nigeria are talking tough on oil spills in the aftershock of the BP disaster. Officials had stern words with Shell over its inadequate clean-up activities, and Exxon Mobil, who were ‘cautioned’ over a recent spill of over a million gallons. Upping the stakes, the governor of Delta...
The $20 Billion Question
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Jun 22, 2010
On day 58 of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, the US government forced BP to allocate $20 billion to compensate victims affected. While US lawmakers decried the fact that only $71 million had been paid out last Tuesday, the contrast with the Niger Delta is striking. Victims in the small village of Ebebu have waited for 40...
