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Fresh Spill at Agip’s Tebidaba/Ogboinbiri pipeline

Location: Ikebiri, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area (LGA), Bayelsa State

INTRODUCTION:
Ikebiri community [Kingdom] is one of the communities that make up Olodiama clan in Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa State. It has about nine oil wells being operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company [NAOC]. Ikebiri Kingdom comprises of Ikebiri 1, 2, 3 and several fishing settlements. As far as oil exploration/exploitation activities are concerned, Ikebiri kingdom has suffered from some of the negative impacts, especially oil spills. While some of the spills were attributed to third party interference, others were confirmed to have been caused by equipment failure. The current oil spill in contention was discovered by NAOC and the community later got the information.

A Joint Investigation Visit [JIV] was to be made to the spill site on Thursday, 19th February, 2015 but apart from community representatives, Agip and the other relevant agencies failed to appear. This necessitated the shifting of the JIV to the next day (Friday, 20th February, 2015). Although the spill was confirmed to have been caused by equipment failure; the JIV was inconclusive on Friday as there was disagreement on the volume of crude oil spewed into the environment, more so as the spill must have continued for a long time before it was discovered. The spill was left unstopped after the inconclusive JIV. Besides visiting the spill site on 19th February, 2015 ERA/FoEN followed up with phone calls to confirm the outcome of the JIV from community leaders.

 

Press Release


Reject candidates who thwarted PIB, UNEP report on Ogoniland – ERA/FoEN

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the the Hon. Ishaka Bawa-led 23 man- ad-hoc committee on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) for recommending the removal of discretional powers of the president to grant petroleum even as it urged Nigerian electorate to deprive lawmakers currently seeking re-election votes if they are found to have thwarted the PIB or the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland.

ERA/FoEN, in a statement issued in Lagos, said the decision became imperative in view of the delayed passage of the PIB and the controversies over several key clauses at both chambers of the National Assembly. The Hon. Bawa committee which found the discretionary powers removed recommended instead, a competitive bidding process, insisting that the controversial provision runs contrary to Section 191 of original bill. The committee also denies the Minister of Petroleum power to either serve as chairman or recommend to the president the appointment of boards of some agencies under the law.

ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Ojo said: “While we commend this move to ensure the spirit of the PIB is not whittled, we are determined more than ever before that the upcoming election is another opportunity for the electorate to demonstrate people power. Lawmakers who booby-trapped the PIB and the UNEP report implementation will not get the votes of the electorate”

 

Headliners


  • The fall in oil price could be a turning point for Nigeria's economy

    Thursday, 12th March 2015

    The drumbeat of war is sounding on the streets as Nigeria prepares for the 2015 elections. The election, due in February, has been postponed by six weeks to 28 March, ostensibly to allow the electoral commission more time to prepare and to beef up security in the north-eastern part of the country where Boko Haram is strong.

    But a far more insidious deciding factor in the polls could be Nigeria’s unhealthy dependence on oil, which represents over 80% of its national income. Plummeting oil prices since December have presented new challenges for Nigeria’s economy.

    The much needed oil allocations from central government to the federal states have been delayed, making it difficult for some to meet recurrent and capital projects expenditure. The free-falling oil price is forcing the government to draw down its foreign reserves to augment the budget.
    If oil prices continue to fall, tumbling morale and expectations could pose major obstacles to a free and fair elections. Already, opposition parties are crying foul over the draw-down of more than 80% of the national foreign reserves that were set up in 2012. And a sovereign wealth fund for Nigeria, based on the Norwegian fund (currently worth nearly $900bn), looks likely to remain a pipedream. Pressure on the economy has forced the government to abandon the idea, which aimed to provide for the rainy day that has already caught up with the country. Now, with oil prices hovering around $50 per barrel, many have declared the 2015 budget unrealistic.


  • Farmers in Nigeria's Taraba State refuse to give up lands for massive rice plantation project backed by the G8

    Wednesday, 28th January 2015

    Farmers in Nigeria's north eastern state of Taraba are being forced off lands they have farmed for generations to make way for US company Dominion Farms to establish a 30,000 ha rice plantation.

    The Dominion Farms project forms part of the G8's New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa and the Nigerian government's Agricultural Transformation Agenda, which are both intended to enhance food security and livelihoods for small farmers in Nigeria. A new report, however, finds that the Dominion Farms project is having the opposite effect. The report was produced by two Nigerian NGOs, Environmental Rights Action (ERA)/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (FoEN) and Center for Environmental Education and Development (CEED), with the support of Global Justice Now and GRAIN. It is based on field investigations and interviews conducted with local farmers, community leaders and government officials.

    The report shows how the lands provided to Dominion Farms are part of a public irrigation scheme that thousands of families depend on for their food needs and livelihoods. The local people were not consulted about the Dominion Farms project and, although the company has already started to occupy the lands, they are still completely in the dark about any plans for compensation or resettlement. Dominion Farms is involved in a similar land grab for a rice farm in Kenya that has generated conflicts with local communities.


  • Court documents expose Shell’s false claims on Nigeria oil spills: Shell Responds

    Thursday, 13th November 2014

    Court documents revealed by Amnesty International today expose the fact that Shell has repeatedly made false claims about the size and impact of two major oil spills at Bodo in Nigeria in an attempt to minimize its compensation payments. The documents also show that Shell has known for years that its pipelines in the Niger Delta were old and faulty.
    The potential repercussions are that hundreds of thousands of people may have been denied or underpaid compensation based on similar underestimates of other spills.
    The irrefutable evidence that Shell underestimated the Bodo spills emerged in a UK legal action brought by 15,000 people whose livelihoods were devastated by oil pollution in 2008. The court action has forced Shell to finally admit the company has underplayed the true magnitude of at least two spills and the extent of damage caused.

    We have been vindicated that Shell hugely manipulates the Joint Investigation reports to suit their purpose, escape from responsibility and to manage liabilities says Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director ERA

    “Amnesty International firmly believes Shell knew the Bodo data were wrong. If it did not it was scandalously negligent – we repeatedly gave them evidence showing they had dramatically underestimated the spills,” said Audrey Gaughran, Director for Global Issues at Amnesty International.


  • Take Action Vote the Nominee of the Sustainable Development Pinocchio Awards

    Thursday, 6th November 2014

    This year  Environmental Rights Action is collaborating with Friends of the Earth France who  is working together with Peuples Solidaires - Action Aid France and CRID for the 7th year organizing the “Sustainable Development Pinocchio Awards”. The awards highlight the social and environmental impacts of the activities of multinational companies, activities that are in clear contradiction with the sustainable development goals that they claim to respect, commitments that additionally are legally non-binding and have thereby proven to be ineffective.

    There are three categories of nominees; the category “Greener than green” is awarded to “the company which has led the most abusive and misleading communication campaign in regard to its actual activities”. The second category “Dirty hands, full wallet” is awarded to the company “which has the most opaque policy at the financial level, in terms of lobbying or in its supply chain”. The third category “One for all, all for me!” is awarded to the company “which has the most aggressive policy in terms of appropriation, exploitation or destruction of natural resources.”The multinational gas and oil company Total is one of the nominees in the third category for the impacts of their exploitation activities in Nigeria.


  • A Joint Statement issued to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, UNHRC

    Wednesday, 25th June 2014

    This document was submitted to UNHRC in an attempt to seek a redress to the environmental Challenges befalling the people of the Niger Delta and to seek the help of the commission to help bring to book the main culprit transnational company, Shell since international and local advocacy as well as national regulatory agencies have not been able to compel Shell to change and respect human rights in the Niger delta, the regulatory agencies, national governments and the laws of the land.

    This level of impunity demonstrates the dire need for an international mechanism to hold companies to account uniformly rather than allowing for voluntary company mechanisms that are not legally binding.

    Read the Full Statement here

 

Oil Politics

Oil Politics is a weekly newspaper column (www.234NEXT.com) in which Nnimmo Bassey rigorously examines issues relating to the extractive industries as well as other pressing socio-economic issues through the filter of justice.


What is on that Plate?

The theme of the World Environment Day 2013 is “Think. Eat. Save”. Each word is loaded and stands alone, separated by unambiguous periods. That should get us thinking indeed. Many people in the world do not really think before eating. They are more preoccupied by the nagging question of where the next meal would come from. There are also a number of persons whose questions pertain to what to eat out of the myriad of choices on their sumptuous dining tables. And, of course, there are people to whom saving food is not a problem while to yet others there is simply no choice in doing that. There are others who wish to save but cannot do so either due to a lack of means to do so, or for the reason of current insufficiencies.

There is a lot of food for thought in just considering the theme.

 
STOP IMPUNITY NIGERIA


Photo Speak
Disclaimer!

ERA has recently received information that a group calling itself the "Niger Delta Coalition in the Diaspora" is still engaging itself in activities and communications giving the impression that it is linked with Environmental Rights Action (ERA).

This group issues out communications using ERA's headquarter address and mail box. We have never had any ties with this group and any views, comments or opinions expressed by them is not endorsed or authorized by any member of management or staff of ERA.

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