Group insists Shell must clean up Niger Delta

Against the backdrop of Shell Petroleum Development Company’s (SPDC) plan to divest from the country’s oil and gas sector, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has called on the Federal Government to halt the multi-national oil company’s attempt to run away from its mess without proper clean-up of the Niger Delta.

The foremost environmental group, in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin City, alleged that Shell’s plan to sell its land-based, shallow offshore oil fields and infrastructure in the Niger Delta region was a plot not to clean up the Niger Delta.

The statement signed by the director of programmes, Mike Karipo also called on the Nigerian government to protect local communities’ interest within the divestment process of oil and gas multinational companies operating in the region.

Karipo alleged that it was the characteristic nature of the firm, having almost drained the region dry of oil and gas resources and engaged in ecocide because of its reckless operations in the region now seeks to walk away with billions of dollars in its kitty.