THE Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has called on the Federal Government to withdraw the oil prospecting licence granted Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) following a United Nations (UN) study, which uncovered alleged disastrous impact of the company's activities in Ogoniland.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in a report presented to President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday, noted that control and maintenance of oilfield infrastructure in Ogoniland had been and remained inadequate.
It also alleged that the SDPC procedures have not been applied in area, a situation that has engendered public health fear and safety issues.
President, MOSOP, Ledum Mitee, who had earlier expressed scepticism about the UNEP study, which was funded by Shell, said the report has vindicated the Ogoni people's position that their environment has been devastated by a succession of oil spills since the inception of oil exploration in the area.
Mitee observed that considering the extent and recurring nature of the now scientifically proven damage Shell activities has caused in Ogoni, one positive use that the government should immediately make of the report which confirms that Shell has consistently and wilfully violated extant Nigerian laws, is to apply the appropriate statutory sanctions, "which under Paragraph 25(1) (a)(iii) of the Regulations made pursuant to section 2(3) of the Petroleum Act is revocation of any oil prospecting licence or oil mining lease, which is not conducted with good oil field practice."
MOSOP, he said, "therefore calls on the government to revoke Shell's licence for persistent failure to abide by extant industry regulations."
Mitee said MOSOP has consistently held the view that "what is needed is the cleanup of the devastated environment and not a mere study to tell us what we already know."
MOSOP applauded and supported the call for immediate setting up of a $1 billion Ogoni Environmental Restoration Fund, an Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre as well as a Centre of Excellence in Environmental Restoration in Ogoniland.
The group also called for an apology from Shell if only to make the point that the non-violent approach that the Ogoni people have adopted could yield positive dividends in Nigeria.
Mitee said MOSOP, which agitated for environmental audit and clean up of Ogoni and was nominated to serve on the Presidential Implementation Committee on the project, was excluded from the processes leading to the released report, "with the result that the process was being driven by the polluter, Shell, including the weak government agencies, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).
Similarly, Coordinator, Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) Patrick Naagbanton, said it was glad that the UNEP report restated the obvious extensive damage Shell allegedly did to the Ogoni ecology.
The Guardian