03-11-05
Ten years after the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa,
the struggle for justice for the people in the Niger Delta continues.
The execution of writer and human rights campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight
other activists, (the “Ogoni nine”) on 10 November 1995, raised a storm of
outrage across the world. Their deaths highlighted the suffering of the Ogoni
people in the oil-rich delta of the Niger river. The Nigerian government was
widely denounced and the oil company Shell condemned for its ambiguous and
belated interventions.
But 10 years later, how much has changed for the people of the Niger Delta?
Ken Saro-Wiwa fought for an end to the environmental damage that was turning
his homeland into what he described as a “wasteland”, endangering the people's
health and livelihoods. Today oil spills still blacken the land and pollute the
waterways. Hundreds of gas flares burn day and night, filling the sky with soot
and fumes. Operational practices such as these, so close to people's homes,
farms and waterways, would not be tolerated in the countries where the oil
companies have their headquarters.
The inhabitants of the Niger Delta remain among the most deprived oil
communities in the world -- 70 % live on less than $ 1 a day. In spite of its
windfall gains, as global oil prices have more than doubled in the last two
years, the Nigerian government has failed to provide services, infrastructure or
jobs in the region.
The military government which executed Ken Saro-Wiwa and his companions was
replaced in 1999 by a civilian government. Yet government security forces
continue to kill people in the Niger Delta with impunity. Excessive force is
used to protect the oil industry and restore law and order -- and the human
rights of communities are regularly violated.
The powerful oil companies operating in the region are perceived by communities
and many activists on the ground as complicit in past human rights abuses. Some
oil companies have admitted that their operations have contributed to fuelling
conflict.
In recent years, under pressure to demonstrate corporate responsibility,
companies have developed voluntary codes of conduct, but these have not been
able to reduce the negative impact of their operations in the region.
"It is like paradise and hell. They have everything. We have nothing. If we
protest, they send soldiers. They sign agreements with us and then ignore us. We
have graduates going hungry, without jobs. And they bring people from Lagos to
work here," says Eghare W.O. Ojhogar, chief of the Ugborodo community in Delta
State.
On 4 February 2005, soldiers fired on protesters at Chevron's Escravos oil
terminal on the coast of the western Niger Delta. One man was killed and at
least 30 others were injured. The protest was over the company's failure to
fulfil an agreement to provide jobs and development projects to the local
Ugborodo community.
Just two weeks later, at least 17 people were reported to have been killed and
two women raped when soldiers raided the town of Odioma. The attack was
ostensibly to arrest members of an armed vigilante group suspected of killing 12
people, including four local councillors. Members of this group were reported to
have been recruited by a sub-contractor of Shell's subsidiary in Nigeria and to
be responsible for security in an area where oil exploration was being
conducted, despite their alleged criminal record. The suspects were not captured
but 80 % of homes in Odioma were razed.
The Delta's marginalized peoples have no effective recourse against such
human rights abuses. It is time for the Nigerian government to end the impunity
enjoyed by the security forces for human rights violations past and present. It
is time for oil companies and the international community to ensure that
business operates within a framework of international human rights standards for
companies, like the UN Norms for Business.
Ten years after the "Ogoni nine" were executed, it is time for justice for the
people of the Niger Delta.
Source: Amnesty International