Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, has appealed to the Federal Government to strengthen relevant institutions to hold oil companies operating in the Niger Delta accountable for activities that lead to environmental pollution.
ERA also tasked Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to return to Ogoniland and other communities that had suffered environmental degradation and decommission their facilities to end further pollution in the areas.
Acting Executive Director of ERA, Mr. Chima Williams, stated this yesterday, while participating in virtual Appeal Court sitting on a matter filed against Shell by four Nigerian farmers in The Netherlands.
“Shell claims to have left most of these Niger Delta communities like Ogoni. They left without decommissioning their facilities. They left with abandonments. They should come back and clean the environment and decommission their facilities, as well as clean up the communities before they leave,” he said.
Williams said that for Nigeria to end continuous environmental pollution by oil firms, the Federal Government must strengthen its institutions.
He said that when the Federal Government takes proactive measures, oil companies would be cautious not to pollute their host communities.
“We are optimistic that the court in Netherlands will give the four Nigerian farmers justice for the damage done to their land by Shell. The farmers have already won two critical grounds on the judgement. The Federal Government is trying in terms of getting the institutions. But, their efforts are not still good enough. It is not just setting up the institutions, but making them effective,” he said.