Unic Press UK: Amnesty International accuses Shell of a deluge of human rights violations in Ogoniland – an oil-rich community in the South South region, Nigeria, calling on the Nigerian government, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands to investigate the oil leviathan.
In its report ‘A Criminal Enterprise? Shell’s Involvement In Human Rights Violations In Nigeria In The 1990’s’, the renowned human rights organization accused the Nigerian national authorities of arbitrary execution of the innocents; and unfair trial of many, who had confronted Shell over its devastating oil operations in Ogoniland – an oil-producing community in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
The executions were the culmination of a brutal campaign by Nigeria’s military to silence the protests of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), led by author and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, one of the men executed. (Amnesty International: 2017)
Shell, the first energy company to commence large-scale oil production in Nigeria, denies the allegations that it acted solely, or worked in concert with others in the swath of violence and gross human rights violations that took place in Ogoniland in the 1990’s.
However, Amnesty Int’l is adamant, claiming that its findings are the proof of the collaboration of Shell and the Nigerian state in a manner that silenced many voices that had questioned the devastating impact of oil operations in the Niger Delta.
“The country and the company had a shared interest in ensuring that the oil kept flowing. Shell and the government were business partners, running the
highly profitable Nigerian oil fields as a joint venture. The two entities were in constant contact. As the chairperson of Shell Nigeria from 1994-7, Brian Anderson, conceded, “The government and the oil industry are inextricably entangled.” (Amnesty International: 2017)
