Oil Spills in Niger Delta: Amnesty International Challenges Data Reliability

Shell has repeatedly been asked to produce evidence to support their figures; at this time Shell has been unable to do so.

Scene in Nigeria; courtesy: PuppetGov.com

(NIGER DELTA / PORTLAND) - Amnesty International (AI) today challenged the credibility of the data recently released by a senior UN official investigating oil-impacted sites in Ogoniland. AI calls for independent oversight of the oil industry in the Niger Delta, including disclosure of all relevant information on the causes of oil pollution.

A United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) official is reported to have said “Ninety percent of oil spills in Ogoniland were due to sabotage and criminal activity; 10 percent due to equipment failure and negligence by companies such as Shell.”

AI challenges the UNEP’s reliance on these figures; produced by Nigerian regulatory agencies, the same bodies that are known to depend heavily on the oil companies themselves.

“Relying on these figures would be a serious misjudgment, with potentially significant ramifications for those living in the Niger Delta,” said Audrey Gaughran, Director of Amnesty International’s Global Thematic Issues Program.

“UNEP must be aware that the figures have been strongly challenged for years by environmental groups and communities. They are totally lacking in credibility. The people of the Niger Delta have been lied to and denied justice for decades. The issue of oil spill causation is sensitive. If UNEP is going to comment on the cause of oil spills it should do so only on the basis of hard and credible evidence, not figures that are a source of conflict.”

In June 2009, AI released a report detailing the human rights impacts of oil pollution. The information and evidence concluded that the oil spill investigation system in the Niger Delta was lacking in independence, and inadequate to determine the proportion of oil spills caused by sabotage, as opposed to equipment failure.

The organization also found that in many cases, oil companies encompass significant influence in determining the cause of an oil spill. The report documents cases in which Shell claims the cause of a spill was sabotage, however the claim was subsequently questioned by other investigations and or the justice system.

• Between 1989 and 1994 Shell estimated that only 28 percent of oil spilled in the Niger Delta was caused by sabotage.
• By 2007, Shell's estimate had risen to 70 percent.
• The figure now given by Shell has increased to more than 90 percent.

AI has repeatedly asked Shell to produce evidence to support these figures, at this time Shell has been unable to do so.

“While sabotage and vandalism are serious problems, there is no evidence to support the figures offered by oil companies and the Nigerian government agencies,” said Audrey Gaughran.

* Sources: Amnesty International

* Amnesty International’s report Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta: amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/017/2009/en