Take Action
Take Action: Tell Exxon to Clean Up its Oil Spills in Nigeria
An Exxon Valdez sized oil spill has occurred on average every year for the past 50 years in the Niger Delta, according to an independent team of experts led by IUCN and the World Wildlife Fund. Exxon Mobil is responsible for 4 separate spills in the same area of the Niger Delta in the last 7 months alone. Exxon Mobil has admitted to minimal responsibility for the spills but has not taken appropriate or inclusive steps to clean up, compensate communities for their loss of livelihood or reduce the potential of future environmental damage.
For decades, oil companies including Exxon Mobil have been operating in Nigeria under a double standard when compared to their operations in the United States or Europe. The response to the Gulf oil spill as compared to the response to the larger, repeated spills in the Niger Delta is emblematic of this practice.
Join JINN in supporting Niger Delta communities’ call for an environmental impact assessment of the damage caused by these spills; ongoing monitoring; environmental remediation; and an inclusive process to compensate impacted villagers, address ways to improve oil companies’ operations in Nigeria, and reduce the likelihood of future spills.
Tell Exxon to clean up their oil spills in the Niger Delta!
View and sign a letter to Exxon’s CEO.
Take Action: Tell Secretary Clinton that Negotiations, Not Military Assistance is What the Niger Delta Needs
In mid-August, while Secretary Clinton was in Nigeria meeting with the President and the Foreign Minister she pledged to explore ways that the U.S. can provide additional military assistance to Nigeria. This disturbing promise signals that that the Obama administration’s foreign policy with regards to Nigeria is headed in the wrong direction. We need you to sign a letter that will send a strong message demanding that Secretary Clinton and the Obama administration rethink the U.S. role in bringing peace to the Niger Delta. Support diplomatic negotiations, not military assistance.
Nigeria is the one of the largest producers of oil in Africa, and is an important strategic partner for the U.S. – Nigeria is the fifth largest exporter of crude oil to the U.S., Africa’s most populous country, and a key country in maintaining regional security in West Africa, making Nigeria one of the most important stops on Secretary Clinton’s 7-country trip to Africa.
During her visit, Secretary Clinton rightly highlighted the importance of electoral reform, the need for transparency and the concern regarding widespread corruption, however her comments indicating the U.S. would explore military assistance for Nigeria is not the right approach to supporting Nigeria in resolving the crisis in the oil producing Niger Delta. Residents of the Niger Delta have struggled for decades to demand their share of the oil wealth which makes up 80 percent of the Nigerian government’s revenues. Since oil was discovered in the late 1950’s the region has become poorer, with most villagers living on less than a $1 a day. In addition, the people have suffered mass human rights violations at the hand of the Nigerian military (sometimes at the behest of U.S. oil companies) when they have spoken up to demand clean water, electricity, and access to healthcare, education and jobs; and environmental destruction by the oil companies including oil spills, water contamination and gas flares that burn 24 hours a day 7 days a week contributing to respiratory illnesses, cancer and significant Co2 emissions. Civil society groups and armed political militant groups alike have called for diplomatic negotiations as the way toward peace. They seek a say in their own governance and a genuine investment in the development of the Niger Delta. Ask Secretary Clinton to support diplomatic negotiations. View and Sign a letter to Clinton
Take Action to Stop Toxic Gas Flaring in Nigeria
Shell: Stop Gas Flaring Now!
Background (letter to Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer at bottom)
On June 8th, Ogoni plaintiffs suing Shell for complicity in human rights abuses in Nigeria scored a major victory when they forced Shell to settle the case with a $15.5 million dollar payment of compensation. It was a victory for the families of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other activists who were killed for their leadership in a mass movement against Shell’s environmental devastation of their homeland in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
One of the abuses these activists died struggling to end was “gas flaring”—burning off gas released by oil extraction—which sends plumes of toxic smoke into the air. Gas flaring endangers human health, harms local ecosystems, emits large amounts of greenhouse gases, wastes vast quantities of natural gas, and is against Nigerian law.
While there is no doubt that the settlement represented a significant victory for the plaintiffs’ in the landmark human rights case against Shell, true justice will not be served as long as the people of Nigeria continue to suffer the terrible impact of Shell’s company’s operations. The compensation payment to settle the Wiwa v. Shell case was only 1/20 of 1% of Shell’s profits last year. It would purportedly cost only about 10% of last year’s profits to end Shell’s gas flaring in Nigeria once and for all. This is a small price to pay to end a human rights abuse that Shell has been committing for decades.
Shell’s CEO, Jeroen van der Veer, will retire at the end of June. He has the opportunity to choose the legacy he’ll leave behind—one of environmental devastation and broken promises, or one of progress in this case by ending Shell’s gas flaring. We have an opportunity to help Van der Veer make the right choice.
What is gas flaring? Gas is often found mixed with crude oil, and must be separated. The cheapest way for oil companies to deal with the gas is also the most environmentally destructive way: burning it. This practice costs Nigeria about US$2.5 billion annually, while more than 66% of the population is estimated to live in poverty.
“Major oil companies are flaring gas in the oil-rich Niger Delta despite the fact that a Nigerian judge stated that flaring is illegal. Led by oil giant Shell, they have been burning gas for decades when they could be using it to provide energy to the local population. The government must ensure that oil companies stop this destructive practice now,” said Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International chair and Friends of the Earth Nigeria Executive Director.
Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest gas flarers. Nigerian gas flares emit as many greenhouse gases as 18 millions cars, and release toxic substances in densely populated areas, damaging both the environment and the people in the Niger Delta. Flaring can lead to leukaemia, asthma and premature death. It causes acid rain which acidifies lakes and streams and damages the environment.
To understand the ravages of gas flaring, watch Poison Fire, a stunning documentary on oil and gas abuse in Nigeria.
Send a letter to Shell’s CEO
Take Action to End Military Violence in the Delta
Starting on May 13 several villages in the Niger Delta have been attacked by the Nigerian military under the guise of searching for militants. Hundreds are feared dead and villages are being destroyed every day. On May 20 we learned that another village, Oporoza, where the film Sweet Crude was filmed, was razed by the Joint Task Force of the Nigerian Military. Through unspeakable heartbreak, the Sweet Crude crew and all who care about justice are continuing an all-out effort to get the U.S. government and international community to pay attention.
If you want to help, please send the below message or wording of your choosing to:
John Kerry, chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Or call the Committee Majority office at 202.224.4651
Or Senator Kerry at 202.224.2742.
If you know people of influence, please tell them what’s going on. They can contact leslye@sweetcrudemovie.com or sarah@JusticeInNigeriaNow.org.
You can also find resources at sweetcrudemovie.com and on the JINN site
PLEASE consider helping — these people have no one who would be listened to standing up for them. Thousands are huddled in the bush, injured and scared, many now with no homes to go back to.
SAMPLE TEXT TO JOHN KERRY:
I am shocked and saddened to learn of the attacks on civilians in the Niger Delta by the Nigerian military. It is reported that as many as 2,000 people were killed and as many as 30,000 are now displaced refugees.
I urge you and your fellow U.S. lawmakers to speak out immediately to stop the current bombardment and hold the Nigerian government accountable for its authorization. I ask that you call for:
- An immediate cease fire
- Safe access into the area for humanitarian organizations and journalists – to assure the safety of the refugees, medical treatment for the injured, and an accurate assessment of the conditions and casualties
- An investigation into the attacks
- Action to pave the way for legitimate, third-party-monitored talks
Take Action: Demand Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law be Reinstated
On February 12, Senator Patrick Leahy announced that the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law will be eliminated. During its tenure, this unique Subcommittee held hearings on issues including human trafficking, genocide, and the intersection of human rights and environmental policies with particular attention to the extractive industry. Last September, the subcommittee held a hearing on “Extracting Natural Resources: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of Law” and heard testimony by Nigerian expert, Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action, on the oil industry and human rights in the Niger Delta with specific attention to abuses caused by Chevron and Shell. The subcommittee also initiated several groundbreaking bills that were enacted into law including the Genocide Accountability Act, which makes it a crime to commit genocide anywhere in the world.
Learn more about the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
Join Justice In Nigeria Now to send a strong message to Chevron about their human rights abuses in Nigeria.
Nearly 500 people who have already signed a letter to Chevron’s CEO calling on Chevron to stop paying transporting, and housing the Nigerian military and police forces who shoot, injure and kill innocent unarmed protesters in Nigeria. Sign Letter!