BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom: Amnesty International blames violence in troubled Nigerian region on oil firms: “Amnesty International has indicted the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and Chevron Nigeria Limited for continued outbreak of violence in oil-rich Niger/Delta area.”: Posted Saturday 5 November 2005

Excerpt from report by Nigerian private Minaj TV on 4 November

Amnesty International has indicted the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and Chevron Nigeria Limited for continued outbreak of violence in oil-rich Niger/Delta area.

Amnesty International argued that international oil companies working in Nigeria have an obligation to ensure that local forces protecting them do not violate human rights. It linked Shell to a violent clash in Odioma community in Bayelsa State last January leading to the death of about 29 people and Chevron was fingered in the violent clash between soldiers and villagers in Escravos area of Delta State last February.

This was released yesterday in a report entitled "Ten Years on: Injustice and Violence Haunt the Oil Delta." The human rights group insisted that the multinationals could have done more to prevent the spate of violence witnessed in the region this year. The report urged Chevron to investigate an incident at the company's Escravos oil terminal last February that left at least one protester dead. The group also urged the federal government to conduct thorough and independent inquiries into allegations that security forces killed, injured, and raped civilians and destroyed their property in the region. The findings should be made public and those responsible for human rights violations brought to justice.

In a swift response to the report, Shell said it has not been made aware of this allegation.

Shell's external relations director, Donald Boham, said in defence of the allegation that one of its sub-contractors hired for security a vigilante group suspected of killing 12 people, which led to the Nigerian troops destroying a village and killing additional 17 in the hunt for the vigilantes. [Passage omitted]

Source: Minaj Broadcast International TV, Lagos, in English 1100 gmt 4 Nov 05

BBC Monitoring 

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