Nigerians and their Allies demand Respect for Human Rights, Increased Investment in Local Community Development

Tunde Okorodudu speaking outside the Chevron Shareholder meeting

May 27,2009 – San Ramon, CA, Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting today became a referendum on the company’s global operating practices, with hundreds rallying outside the meeting against the oil giant’s environmental and human rights record, and representatives of Chevron affected communities inside the meeting speaking directly to the company’s senior executives, board of directors and key shareholders. Present were representatives or allies from communities in Nigeria, Burma, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Canada, the Philippines and Richmond, California.

Inside the meeting Tunde Okorodudu, a pro-democracy activist and former Senatorial candidate for Delta South, in the Niger Delta of Nigeria pronounced powerfully, “what is bad for my people is also bad for business. Communities where Chevron extracts oil have made it known to the company for many years that they were suffering as a result of Chevron’s operations. When villagers ask for jobs, environmental remediation for pollution the company caused, electricity, investment in education and healthcare and environmental audits and mitigations, Chevron responded with minimal investments in community projects that have not dented the community needs.”

“Chevron has known for years that an insurgency was building among frustrated residents of the Niger Delta as a result of the lack of development and environmental harms caused by oil development,” said Okorodudu.  “And now, the company’s practices in the Niger Delta have contributed to harm their bottom line, with the attack yesterday of a major oil pipeline in Abiteyeye, which the Wall Street Journal reports reduced Chevron’s output by 100,000 barrels per day.” The company’s 10k report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2009 states that its Nigeria oil production for 2008 was 154,000 barrels per day. This means that the current instability has reduced the company’s production by almost two thirds.

Laura Livoti, founder of Justice in Nigeria Now said “Chevron has a responsibility to its shareholders. In order to ensure security and stability for its operations the company must step up and promote development and adequate living standards in the communities from which they are making their profits.”

In addition, Okorodudu addressed the current humanitarian crisis in the Delta stemming from the Nigerian military’s attacks in Delta and Rivers State which have uprooted and displaced villagers, with reports of civilian deaths and starvation as a result. Okorodudu declared “the company must end its relationship with the notoriously brutal Nigerian military. As a 40% partner with the Nigerian government it must bear some responsibility for the destructive actions by the military and its brutal and notorious Joint Task Force (JTF)”.

Outside the meeting protestors carried colorful placards parodying Chevron’s Human Energy advertisements with beautiful photos of a Nigerian villager that read “I will give my baby contaminated water: Chevron refuses to clean up its mess in Nigeria” and  another  with a photo of a Nigerian boy reading ”I will continue fishing even though the fish are gone: Chevron pollutes fresh water in Nigeria.”

The coalition of groups and Chevron affected communities yesterday released an alternative annual report and a series of parody ads that address the company’s worldwide issues. The entire report and advertisement series can be found at www.TrueCostofChevron.com

Filmmaker Sandy Cioffi, who just released her film Sweet Crude about the conflict in the Niger Delta comments on the violence that broke out late last week and continued through the weekend:

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Oporoza, the village where much of Sweet Crude was filmed, is under attack by the Joint Task Force of the Nigerian military. To learn more, please continue reading below.

As heavy as our hearts are, we find hope in the possibility that parties in a position of influence – the media, U.S. government officials, international diplomats – will finally understand the gravity of the Niger Delta crisis and take action quickly to help end the violence. (Please read the report filed on April 30th by the International Crisis Group: http://tiny.cc/ICGReport)

We ask that if you know such people, please tell them what’s happening and how critical it is to speak out and hold the Nigerian government accountable – right now. Please also forward this widely so that as many people as possible understand what’s going on – so that Oporoza is not just a faceless village in Africa, but the place where real people, many of them our friends, may be dying. And finally, please hold these men, women and kids in your thoughts and prayers.

With thanks from Sweet Crude movie

Sweet Crude will have its San Francisco Premiere on Thursday May 28 at the Victoria Theater.

www.sweetcrudemovie.com

More information
There are conflicting reports, but we do know from a friend who called from the bush, where village residents have fled, that the military has opened fire and there are casualties.

We received this text message from one of the film’s main characters:

“The situation is getting worse every minute. Their plan is to wipe Oporoza out of the surface of Earth tomorrow morning. Pls let the international community intervene before we witness a genocide.”

We have also heard that a specific target is the home of Tompolo, one of the top leaders of MEND. This is a very dangerous development.

It is uncertain whether President Yar’Adua ordered or acceded to this attack – perhaps to test the waters for a larger engagement – or whether the JTF is operating outside the Federal government. Both scenarios are of critical concern in their implications about the Nigerian government, the likelihood of escalation and the collapse of any peace initiatives. Particularly alarming is the decision to target Tompolo, a MEND leader who is said to have been active recently in talks with the Federal government and who is seen as a political leader of the movement. The Nigerian Vice President, who is from the Niger Delta, is out of the country.

We hope the U.S. government will address the situation immediately, ask directly for an explanation of the attack and the chain of command that authorized it, and call for a cease fire.

The situation has been reported by several international media outlets. Here’s an article from the Wall Street Journal: http://tiny.cc/WSJ

And if you haven’t seen it, there is a 15-minute video on our web site (sweetcrudemovie.com/videoGallery) that captures the beauty and tragedy of the Niger Delta. As the opening shot depicts the serene Oporoza jetty, imagine it today, surrounded by gunboats, soldiers, helicopters and a terrifying rain of bullets. This is the human cost of the dire Niger Delta situation. Please join us in calling for an end to the crisis.

For three years we have been asking “What if the world paid attention before it was too late?”. Tonight we are flattened to know that for some people in the Delta it is already too late. But now more than ever, our attention might avert a new unspeakable level of violence.

Read more about the militarization of the Niger Delta