CSOs Criticise Tinubu’s Silence After UN Accused Oil Companies Of Rights Violations, Frustrating Cleanup


The Nigerian government has yet to respond to a damning United Nations report, accusing multinational oil companies operating in the country of treating the Niger Delta as “an experiment for divestment without clean-up.”

Civil Society Groups stated that the silence is not just disappointing — it is dangerous. It signals either a profound disregard for the rights of Nigerian citizens or complicity in their continued suffering. 

Over 20 civil society groups, including Amnesty International and Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, say the federal government’s silence amounts to a betrayal of millions of Niger Deltans enduring decades of environmental devastation.

The Polluter Pays Project, a not-for-profit organisation that works to ensure that oil and gas companies clean up their mess, stated that the UN experts made their position known in letters addressed to Shell, Eni, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies.

The experts also extended the letters to host governments of the multinationals – the UK, USA, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, as well as the Nigerian government.

About 25 Civic Society Organisations in Nigeria said that while Shell and Eni, as well as the governments of the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands, have issued responses, Nigeria has yet to. The group says Nigeria’s continued silence shows its complicity in the suffering of the people. “Nigeria has not. Not a single word of reassurance. Not a single commitment to justice. Not a single step toward accountability,” the civil societies said.

They are also demanding that the Nigerian government should publicly disclose the terms and conditions of all oil company divestments, reveal the funding allocated for environmental remediation and compare it to independent estimates of actual clean-up costs, and establish and enforce clear standards for environmental restoration.

They further called on the federal government to ensure full compensation and meaningful participation of affected communities in the remediation process and immediately halt the reopening or licensing of any oil wells in the Niger Delta until comprehensive clean-up and restitution have been completed.


Photo Credit: Unsplash 

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