Having written about Shell in Nigeria for over fifteen years, we have known that there was huge internal disquiet about the company’s operations in the country. In the aftermath of the murder of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995, Shell was pilloried in the international press for being complicit in his death and for being … Read More
violence
As violence starts again, Shell off-loads Nigerian assets
Things are hotting up in the Niger Delta again and once again Shell finds itself at the centre of the vortex of violence and conflict. On Saturday the company had to shut three oil flow stations in the Delta region after a pipeline was sabotaged by armed gun-men. It was the same day as Nigeria’s … Read More
Nigeria: MEND Dismiss Chinese Oil Bidders as “Locusts”
Yesterday, the Financial Times rocked the oil world with a story about how the Chinese state-owned oil company, CNOC, was in talks with the Nigerian Government to buy large stakes in some of the country’s key oil blocks. The story was so compelling, because if it is accurate, it puts the Chinese in direct competition … Read More
Burma’s $5 Billion Blood Money
A major two- year investigation by EarthRights International has found further, compelling evidence linking oil giants Total and Chevron to forced labour, killings, and high-level corruption in Burma. The important report, called Total Impact, documents how Total and Chevron’s highly controversial Yadana gas project has generated just under $5 billion for the ruthless military junta … Read More
Shell’s Secret Collusion Documents
A week ago, on the eve of a highly embarrassing trial, oil giant Shell was forced to pay out $15.5 million to settle a land-mark legal case that it had been fighting for thirteen years against the family of executed writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerians. The legal case argued that Shell was complicit … Read More
“Our oil will be a blessing and not a curse”
As president Obama reads the reactions to his first fleeting visit to the Middle East, his first proposed African visit is also causing quite a stir. In just over a month, Obama will undertake his first visit to the continent. The country he will visit is not the powerhouse of West Africa, Nigeria, but its … Read More
1,000 Reported Dead in Nigeria on Eve of Shell AGM
Tomorrow is the Shell AGM: the show case of the company’s year. Shell will be under fire from investors over corporate pay, but its record in Nigeria should be the real reason the company is in the spotlight. In the Hague, the main venue for Shell’s main AGM, the oil company’s top brass will be … Read More
Justice Begins at Home
In May 1998, 121 unarmed youths from the 42 communities of Ilajeland in the Niger Delta decided to join the waves of protests against the oil companies sweeping the region. Whereas many of the previous protests had been against Shell, the oil company operating in their area was Chevron. They got into boats and canoes … Read More
13 Years On and Death Still Stalks the Niger Delta
If he was still alive, I wonder what Ken Saro-Wiwa would make of it all, if he could see his beloved Delta stuck in a vortex of violence that seemingly has no end. For a man who preached peace, he would undoubtedly despair at the continued kidnapping and bloodshed. Thirteen years after his death, there … Read More
Welcome to the “Oil War”
So finally it comes to this… The Niger Delta is at “war”. Yesterday, the region’s most prominent militant group, MEND declared an “oil war”, warning all oil workers to evacuate the delta immediately. This morning, true to their word, MEND (the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) attacked a Shell flow station in … Read More