Exxon Mobil Gas Facilities and Flare in Akwa Ibom State near the shore

Hundreds of youth in Ibeno, Nigeria [located in Akwa Ibom State]  took to the street demanding Exxon Mobil pay full compensation to the community members in respect to the oil spill that occurred within the community late last year [November 2012].

The demonstration which occurred on Wednesday 5^th May, 2013 lasted from 7am till 1.15pm. The irked youths blocked the main gate of Exxon Mobil hindering  all exit from and entry into the company premises. The youth blocking the facility entrances were holding aloft placards inscribed with demands like  “Exxon Mobil Pay us our compensation.” “We are demanding for our rights, Let justice prevail,” according to the NGO Peace Point Action, which is based nearby in Cross River State, Nigeria. 

Cross River Rainforest Activist Odey Oyama

 Odey Oyama is a Cross River Rainforest activist who was shocked by police visits recently. Oyama, one of the most visible activists in the area, works in support of local communities, for preservation of the rainforest and against government corruption. Oyama speaks with a loud and clear voice saying no to land grabs, demanding corporate accountability and respect for Nigerian laws, including the filing of required environmental impact statements. Recently, Oyama has confronted Wilmar’s new palm oil plantations. The police showed up at his office and his home, which they illegally entered. Fortunately, the police didn’t find him. He is, we hope, in a safe place now and working with a local attorney to protect his rights. Your signature on this Friends of the Earth International petition will go a long way to protecting his life, liberty and his right to speak by demonstrating to the State Governor and Acting Governor that the eyes of the world are watching. Please sign today to protect Odey Oyama and send the message that Cross River State cannot intimidate advocates into silence. http://www.foei.org/en/blog/stop-threats-to-nigerian-environmentalist-odey-oyama

a JINN Fourth Anniversary event

Sept 18th 6:30-9:00pm

at the BFUU Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita in Berkeley, CA 94709

* Short in film screening (made by Nigerians about the flaring of gas in Nigerian villages during oil extraction)

* Talk by 2010 Right Livelihood Award Winner, prominent Nigerian activist, director of Environmental Rights Action, Nnimmo Bassey.

* and a leader of the women’s rights movement across the Niger Delta, Emem Okon, founder of Kebetkache Women Resource and Development Centre

Nnimmo and Emem will address Chevron’s recent gas rig explosion in Nigeria and the local toxic health impacts, as well as the global health climate change impacts of the routine flaring of gas in Nigeria.

* Book signing by Nnimmo of his recent work on climate change “To Cook a Continent.”

* Roger Kim of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network will speak about the Chevron Richmond fire and the local and global health implications of the refinery operations and APEN’S climate organizing.

We’ll talk about solutions to protect our environment, health and climate.

Sliding scale donation $10-100 to attend.
Wheelchair accessible

JINN Flyer Poison Fire_RELJINN Flyer Poison Fire_REL

Re-posted from IRIN News

WARRI, 25 November 2011 (IRIN) – Two years after the Nigerian government granted amnesty to militants fighting mainly for development and job opportunities in the oil-rich Niger River Delta, violence has diminished, and oil revenues – which dropped at the height of the conflict – have increased. But analysts argue that the amnesty programme is flawed and will not lead to long-term peace. In the delta, former fighters are picking up their guns again, and resentment brews among those not included.

Under the amnesty, which ran from August to October 2009, militants who handed in their weapons were pardoned for their crimes, trained in non-violence, and offered vocational training in trades such as welding, in Nigeria or overseas. After attending non-violence training they are paid US$410 per month until they find work. Just over 26,000 young people have taken the amnesty package.

Most of the participants had been directly or indirectly involved in crimes including attacking oil infrastructure, oil bunkering, and kidnapping oil workers.

Amnesty was granted after record levels of violence in the Delta in 2008: in the first nine months of the year, 1,000 people were killed, 300 were taken hostage and the government lost $23.7 billion to attacks, oil theft and sabotage.

Carrying guns again

Those in favour of the programme say the reduced violence and improved flow of oil is a clear sign of success, but others worry the calm will not last. “Boys who accepted amnesty later went back to the creeks and carried guns again,” said Casely Omon-Irabor, a lawyer based in Warri, a major city in Delta State, who has represented militants groups for nearly six years.

His clients include John Togo, leader of the militant Niger Delta Liberation Front, who took amnesty but later returned to fighting. Omon-Irabor said the precarious peace could crumble. “[The militants] are already back – they just don’t have enough arms yet.”

Recent local and international news reports also cite “ex”-militants who say they are preparing to fight again.

Violence has declined but has not disappeared. Three civil society leaders in the Niger Delta told IRIN they were aware of cases where militants who had taken the amnesty later returned to fighting.

Other former militants are turning their skills to piracy. “A lot of the militancy has simply moved offshore – piracy is the new site for the armed militants’ activities,” Ben Amunwa, a researcher at Platform, an international human rights NGO, told IRIN.

WARRI, Frustrated by a lack of development and environmental degradation caused by oil extraction in the Niger Delta, Jeffrey James joined a militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, (MEND) and fought with them for seven years. Full report
An article in Africa Confidential magazine on 21 October supports this, saying many of the pirates in the maritime area off Nigeria and neighbouring Benin have links with militant groups in the Niger Delta. Other reports highlight the intricate knowledge of the oil industry some pirates appear to have, which could have been gained in the Niger Delta.

Root causes overlooked

By not addressing the root causes of the conflict the amnesty programme could not lead to sustainable peace. “Why did they go to the creeks? Why did they carry guns? Because we believed there was a monumental neglect of the region that produced the oil,“ said Delta lawyer Omon-Irabor.

“There was no infrastructure, no roads, development, schools, bridges or employment for the youth, and this was the region that produces the wealth of the nation,” he pointed out. “When the government wanted to reconcile, we thought they would address the issues [but] they started paying the boys as if that was the issue in the first place.”

Ledum Mittee, president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), told IRIN: “There has been no improvement in livelihoods in the region.”

Full article

Photo: Wendy Bruere/IRIN
In Delta State’s Oporoza community people say they still need development, including access to clean water

The Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) has called for a rally at the Contra Costa County Administrative offices to protest the appeal of Chevron’s tax assessment.

Protest Chevron’s Tax Grab

651 Pine Street, Martinez

Thursday December 15, 2011

11:30 AM – Gather and Leaflet Area

12 Noon Rally

RPA says:

“The Chevron Corporation is currently appealing its property tax assessment and trying to get the county to pay them a refund of $150 million dollars at hearings in Martinez. If ordered to pay these refunds, County, City, and school districts would have to slash vital health, education and public services and lay off employees.”

“Chevron, which has long had reduced property taxes thanks to loop holes in Proposition 13, is able to hire an army of expensive lawyers to try to bully the county into accepting a settlement. Community groups, unions, and everyone who cares about justice say it is time to stop the 1% from bleeding the rest of us. We are the 99%, Chevron is the 1%!”

The Richmond City Council Resolution asking Chevron to drop its property tax appeals notes the following:

• Chevron Corporation. (formerly Standard Oil) has successfully operated an oil refinery in Richmond since 1904, thus contributing to the corporation’s high profitability for over 100 years

• Chevron declares that it wants to be a good neighbor to Richmond and Contra Costa County residents

• Chevron has posted record profits in each of the last five years, and its profits of $7,830,000,000 ($7.83 billion) for the third quarter of 2011 are double its profits for the third quarter of 2010

•  Chevron’s charitable contributions to worthy local organizations in 2010 amounted to $3.7 million, which represents a mere 0.047% of the profit it made in just three months

• These cuts would inevitably result in the layoffs of city, county, school district, fire and water, etc. workers at a time when we are already experiencing record unemployment and the worst recession since the 1930’s Depression

• These layoffs would result in less income available to purchase goods and services contributing to a downward economic spiral damaging our business community

• Chevron has stated it wants to maintain good a good relationship with Richmond and that it specifically wants to help ameliorate the very problems that the cuts triggered by its potential refunds would exacerbate

• If Chevron were to withdraw all of its property tax appeals it would remain a highly successful and profitable corporation and would experience no negative consequences

• The Richmond City Council respectfully asks Chevron Corporation. to withdraw and dismiss all of its property tax appeals on past years’ assessments and pay the full amount due on current and future property tax assessments for the Richmond refinery.

Read the full resolution by the Richmond City Council

Get the flyer for the protest and rally