Ben Amunwa
Will BP Oil Spill Make Shell ‘Come Clean’?
As the US government takes BP to task over the disasterous Gulf of Mexico spill, many Nigerians (including twitter users) are asking, ‘what about Shell?’. There is nothing clean about Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta, where daily oil spills are frequently ignored for months and where ‘clean up’ methods include dumping oil-drenched soil into pits before [...]
Nigeria Spills Worse Than Deepwater Horizon, The Observer
An article by John Vidal in The Observer this week finds that the enormity of oil pollution in Nigeria ‘dwarfs’ BP’s Deepwater Horizon blow-out. Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it The Deepwater Horizon disaster caused headlines around the world, yet the people who live in the Niger delta [...]
Chevron AGM Bars Nigeria Activists As Complicity Case Nears Court
In a blunt display of corporate censorship, Chevron officials denied respected human rights activist and Niger Delta women’s leader Emem Okon and a global delegation including Justice In Nigeria Now from its annual Shareholder Meeting in Houston yesterday (picture credit: Rainforest Action Network’s Change Chevron campaign). The company, which is facing multiple lawsuits regarding its [...]
BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – A Drop in the Bucket?
As BP’s Deepwater Horizon continues to exceed the company’s efforts to control it, the arrogance and irresponsibility of the oil major’s chief executive, Tony Hayward and his team has never been as clear. The consequences of BP’s mismanagement of the rig loom large, with estimated legal costs currently pegged at $60bn, and rising. Since the quantity of oil [...]
NEW REPORT: A Lake of Oil – Congo’s Controversial Contracts
Cross posted from the PLATFORM blog, here is a new report exposing how British oil companies are making huge profits from oil in the Congo. PLATFORM reveals Congo oil contracts that threaten resource wars and $10 billion rip-off Tullow & British Embassy push disputed deal that could cut Congo’s revenues by $10 billion Confidential oil [...]
Delta Activists Assaulted and Illegally Detained by Nigerian Police
Frontline human rights defenders in the Niger Delta suffered a brutal police attack on Monday 5th April, it emerged today in an Amnesty International statement. Activists from the Ogoni Solidarity Forum and Social Action were beaten, illegally detained without charge and denied access to lawyers and medical treatment. The text below is cross-posted from the Amnesty [...]
The Real Story Behind ‘Blood and Oil’
Viewers of the BBC2 action drama on the Niger Delta, ‘Blood and Oil’ may be shocked to discover that this murky thriller of hostages, soldiers, oil and conflict, has its roots in real events in the Delta. In particular, one of the darker chapters of former President Obasanjo’s repressive rule that went largely unreported… In [...]
‘Blood And Oil’: BBC Drama on the Niger Delta Crisis
The Niger Delta crisis is coming to an audience of millions as BBC 2 screen the long anticipated and award-winning drama, ‘Blood and Oil’ on prime time television. Guy Hibbert’s tense thriller (starring Naomi Harris (28 Days Later), Johdi May (Defiance) Patterson Joseph and David Oyelowo) follows two women as they investigate the circumstances that [...]
Shell Wreak Havoc in Nigeria And Head to Ghana
Shell is pushing for a more active role in Ghana’s vast new oil fields, which may hold over 500 million barrels of oil. With a legacy of turmoil in Nigeria crippling its supply, Shell was desperate to impress at an industry summit this week before Ghana’s Vice President Mahama and the Director of Ghana National [...]
Gas Flaring linked to Acid Rain: Climatologist Warns
Gas currently being flared in Nigeria’s oil fields is polluting the Niger Delta with a ‘huge quantity’ of toxins which are a major cause of acid rain, claims an international professor. The finding could overturn years of skepticism from oil companies and government officials, who regularly downplay the impact of flaring on communities. As the [...]
