Environmentalists beg Buhari to implement UNEP Report

Environmental Rights Action, Friends of the Earth Nigeria has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure quick implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the Ogoni oil spill.

ERA/FoEN’s Executive Director Godwin Uyi said during an advocacy campaign yesterday in Abuja that non-implementation of the report since it was submitted in 2011 has caused hardship for the people of Niger Delta, especially the Ogoni.

Uyi added that it became important to hasten remedial and implementation efforts as it would take about 30 years to complete the cleanup process, as detailed by UNEP.

He said Shell, the multinational company responsible for the spillage, had devised means  to evade compensation to the affected communities.

According to him, the report identified extensive pollution of creeks for the last 50 years, used for fishing, farmland and drinking water.

“Ogale was one of the 10 communities where drinking water was identified as polluted. In several communities contamination was found at depths of five metres underground. About 27 recommendations were made, but none  have been implemented,” he stated.

However, Uyi urged the President to expedite action, adding that on August 2015, he promised to ensure that the polluted communities are cleaned.

He advised the Federal Government to set up an environmental restoration fund for Ogoniland with initial capital of $1 billion contributed by the oil sector and government.

Uyi emphasized the need to set up institutional frameworks for the implementation and compensation for victims and survivors.