Amnesty International: Flawed data used to exonerate oil firms in Niger Delta
By Paul Ohia with agency report
24 August 2010 Human rights organisation, Amnesty International (AI) yesterday challenged the credibility of data cited by the United Nations in an ongoing investigation of oil-impacted sites in Ogoniland which will almost entirely exonerate Royal Dutch Shell for 40 years of oil pollution in the oil rich region. Amnesty challenged UNEP’s reliance on figures which according to them were produced by Nigerian regulatory agencies that “are known to depend heavily on the oil companies themselves when it comes to spill investigations.”… Audrey Gaughran, Director of Amnesty International’s Global Thematic Issues Programme said relying on UNEP figures would be a serious misjudgment, with potentially significant ramifications for those living in the Niger Delta. “UNEP must be aware that the figures have been strongly challenged for years by environmental groups and communities. They are totally lacking in credibility,” he said. “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,” Amnesty stated. … The organisation mentioned that between 1989 and 1994 Shell itself estimated that only 28 percent of oil spilt in the Niger Delta was caused by sabotage. In 2007 Shell’s estimate had risen to 70 per cent. The figure now given by Shell has increased to more than 90 per cent. Amnesty International has repeatedly asked Shell to produce evidence to support these figures. Shell has been unable to do so. …
