The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) led by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (Homef) in collaboration with social action on Monday initiated against the disinversion of oil assets in the Niger Niger Niger Delta region.
The coalition that converged in Abuja, along with King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agbada IV of the Kingdom of Ekpetiama in the state of Bayelsa expressed the opposition during an international press conference held in Abuja, expressed serious concerns about the scourge of various forms of cancer between women, children and lives in the kingdom of Ekpetiama of the state of Bayels.
The coalition specifically acknowledged that the UPSTREAM Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) “declined to recommend the so -called divestment, with the argument that the new participant, the Renaissance, has not been able to show capacity, technical and financial, with which they are taking over.”
However, the CSO expressed concern about the turn of things, saying: “But the president, as Minister of Oil Resources, annulled them (NUPRC) and approved the acquisition.”
“Then, if there is any law or regulation made by the Government that is inconsistent with that provision of the Constitution, that law is null and without void. Then, if someone blaves any law or regulation, such as an instrument of Abracadabra, which, walking in the car with the agents of the federal government. And Nigeria has signed to that treaty.”
In his comments, Dr. Nnmo Bassey points out that there are many studies “over the years. There was a study called by Shell called Environmental Data Survey in the 90s, whose result has not become a public document.
“Therefore, they themselves know the scope of the damage they have inflicted in the region. We also have the United Nations Environment Program report on Ogoniland, another part of the energy data, which has shown that there is also so much damage in that territory where the cleaning process has begun. Then, the evidence, the documents are there.
“The report was paid by pollutants, including the pollutant of the Nigerian state, NNPC. Therefore, they have the facts, they have the information, they know what is happening.”
According to him, during one of the surveys carried out, the experts “took samples of more than 80 women, blood samples, and in all samples they found high levels of hydrocarbons, the total contamination of hydrocarbons. Imagine having all the sampled women, having hydrocarbons. That means that everyone, including the king here, must have hydrocarbons in the blood.
“And we say that we are all very flammable. So do not bring naked flames near anyone from the Niger Delta, we obtained hydrocarbons in his blood. This is not normal. Now the government of the state of Bayels has received the report of the commission that establishes, and the report will be given to the president of Nigeria. And therefore, we hope that the government will have done something, it will ensure that the recommendations of the recommendations of de facto recommendations.
“And that is why the working group is also working continuously and will continue to press and produce and present additional documentation. There are many reports that could not be contained in the Bayelsa report entitled Environmental Genocide. And there are plans to bring this to the public sphere so that no one is in doubt about the echocide that has been the lot of the region.
“And no one would think that reports and other reports can be swept under the carpet, or that people must be languishing without any remedy. This is the conviction of the international working group, and I think this is also the position of the communities, and that is what this case is about. Justice should be served.”
For his part, the Manager of the Social Action Program, Dr. Prince Edegbuo, who expressed his pain due to the difficult situation of people living in oil -producing communities, regretted Shell and his partners, including the federal government, they benefited while the people of the Niger Delta and the ecosystem decreased.
“For almost 20 years, social action Nigeria has worked closely with the first -line communities in the Niger Delta to expose the systemic and social injustices systemic perpetrated by multinational oil companies. The history of the kingdom of Ekpetiama is an emblematic of the widest experience of the communities of the region whose lands have been sacrificed in the order of the extraction of fuel extraction.”
While expressing his confidence in the ongoing lawsuit filed in the Federal Superior Court in the State of Bayelsa, Dr. Edegbuo said: “In this case, we see the opportunity to keep the narration of impunity and denial towards responsibility, repair and repair. We must redefine what the energy transition means for those who were born the extraction costs.
“The social action Nigeria is proud to support the people of Ekpetiama and other impacted communities. We support their legal challenge and their broader struggle for recognition and restitution. Nigeria must rise above the capture for personal interest. Our justice and governance systems must serve people, not only a few corporate dependents and their enabling.
“We urge the judiciary, civil society and the broader public to see this case as a decisive moment. That marks the beginning of an era where the lived condition of Nigerian citizens matter.”
Expressing a serious concern about the life status of the host community, King Bubaraye Dakoko, Agbada IV of the Kingdom of Ekpetiama in the state of Bayelsa, who spoke about the report on the study carried out in the government of the state of Bayels, had had about six years about six years, “a commission of experts extracted from all over the world, of America, England and Nigeria, To look at the gas gas effect in our environment.
“And I think it was deliberate, because when you go to court, they will say, where is the evidence? Who is bringing the evidence? And so, the state government of Bayelsa in 2018 commissioned that body. And took four years.
According to him, “the result is that for most of us, which means that if you take my blood now, you will probably get 1,000 times more than the average of the World Health Organization allowed, which means that it is supposed to be dead. If you go to hydrocarbons, again, I will have shown that I am having more than 1,000 times what is permissible, which means that I am cancer, as you have seen me.
“And so, for everything, so abortions happen, children are born blind, children are born with all kinds of malfunction. So the State did, and then, of course, about two years ago, the report showed all this.
“And the report says that the damage is so much that Shell has to spend at least $ 1 billion every year to rehabilitate, clean, restore the environment for a period of 12 years, which means $ 12 billion. And for Shell's cruel, they have not said anything, because they knew they will leave at night, so they will not worry. Therefore, that has been the effort of the state government.
“The state government in some isolated places has taken measures, but they are limited. You can imagine that the federal government takes the Shell license to order a bus to come to our river to put, what you call it, a large dredge, 25 -inch dredge, one of the largest in the world, in front of our community to dredge for one more year. Very good for 365 ladies of water, pumping sand from our community.
“Then, most of the community has left. What will the State do? They have a license. Therefore, the main problem has not been the State in our state, but the State as National, because some people could be here.
“You've never been to swamps, even for one day. Maybe I should take this opportunity to define for you who is an oil thief. It may not be necessary, but I think it is necessary.”
He argued that oil thieves are not young people who are being disadvantaged on television, but those who have “properties in the best places in Abuja here. So Maitama, New Asokoro, Asokoro, and so on, and then, of course, in Lagos, Banana Island, Ikoyi and such places. And then they have properties abroad.
“They have private airplanes for their enjoyment, again one or two, and so on. Some of them have private refineries abroad. They have funds hidden in Swiss banks and HSBC banks and all kinds of banks with the world. That is an oil thief. If you have to come to the Niger Delta, as I said, it is corresponding to him to have reached the Niger Delta.” “
Also speaking, the demanding lawyer, BarrÃster Chuks Uguru, said optimism that the plaintiff has “a good case. We have a good case.”