The Criminal Element

[lynx@gn.apc.org (nick jukes)]

  The Criminal Element
  
  DELTA exposes the reality of Shell's role in Nigeria
  
  
  News of a further clampdown in Ogoni should come as no surprise to observers
  and activists used to the cynical disregard for environmental and human
  rights by transnationals and the governments they support. Despite the
  deaths of 2000 Ogonis killed by the Shell-backed Nigerian military regime
  and the internationally-condemned executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight
  colleagues, it is business as usual as far as those in power are concerned.
  Another 19 Ogonis are being held in prison on the same false charges that
  led to the murder of Saro-Wiwa, and the conditions in Ogoni have worsened.
  Without any pretence of interest in democracy, Shell is now planning to
  resume its corporate piracy of oil in Ogoni against the wishes of the
  people, and the Abacha regime is plotting to succeed itself in a stillborn
  transition to democracy.
  
  
  Shell's political influence
  
  The laws under which Shell operates in Nigeria are unjust and brutally
  repressive: military decrees have removed people's fundamental human rights
  to land and resources, and to freedom of speech and assembly. Shell is, and
  always has been, inextricably linked to the politics of Nigeria. As part of
  the British establishment, the company has roots in the ruthless colonial
  exploitation of people and the land. In the 1960's it had a role along with
  BP in ensuring that the Biafran secessionist movement was defeated in order
  to keep the oil wells in the right hands and safeguard long-established
  British interests. At least 1.5 million people died in the conflict. 
  
  With a history of supplying fuel to the army of apartheid South Africa,
  Shell is certainly no stranger to working hand-in-hand with repressive
  regimes wherever and whenever it can profit. According to N. A. Achebe from
  Shell, "For a commercial company trying to make investments, you need a
  stable government. Dictatorships can give you that." And Shell provides the
  throne for any regime it can do business with: the company currently
  supports the Abacha regime with economic guidance and major investment.
  Shell managers have even worked in key government positions: Ernest
  Shonekan, now head of the Shell-backed economic development project for
  Nigeria, 'Vision 2010', was even president of the country in 1993. To date
  Shell has accrued $30 billion from its investment in brutal regimes and its
  theft of resources in Nigeria.
  
  
  Poverty and environmental devastation
  
  The indigenous struggle of the Ogoni for environmental and human rights was
  precipitated by the poverty of the oil-producing regions and Shell's
  devastating pollution. Oil provides over 80% of the illegal military
  regime's income, with Shell responsible for half, and yet those who live
  above this source of wealth are amongst the poorest in Nigeria.
  Environmentally, Shell operates a clear policy of racist double standards.
  In contrast to its performance in areas where white Western shareholders
  tend to live, the company has for 40 years plundered the oil from the Niger
  Delta and left a trail of neglect and indifference.  
  
  Rusting high-pressure pipelines criss-cross villages and farmlands, and the
  countless oil spills and blow-outs are often left unchecked. The land,
  rivers and lakes are polluted with oil. Canals, or 'slots', have permanently
  destroyed fragile ecosystems and led to polluted drinking water and deaths
  from cholera. Gas flaring and the construction of flow stations near
  communities have led to severe respiratory and other health problems, and
  contribute massively to global warming. And exploratory and other work has
  devastated more rainforest, mangrove and wetland habitat, threatening the
  biodiversity of the Niger Delta. The traditional, sustainable lives of Ogoni
  farmers and fishers are now virtually impossible.
  
  
  Colluding with the killers
  
  The people's mobilisation threatened the profits of Shell and angered the
  regime which saw a major threat to its income and security, particularly if
  other minorities began to emulate the Ogonis. And so the catalyst for this
  peaceful and effective grassroots resistance, the Movement for the Survival
  of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and its president Saro-Wiwa, had to be stopped.
  Peaceful protests at oil installations were crushed by the paramilitary
  Mobile Police Force whose presence Shell repeatedly requested, and the
  company continues to operate behind a military shield in the Delta. Forced
  last year to admit having imported weapons and paying the military in Ogoni
  - after years of denial - the company has in fact financed military
  operations throughout the region, and supplied vehicles, boats and a
  helicopter to transport soldiers who have raided villages. Killings,
  beatings, rapes, large-scale looting, arbitrary arrests and torture are
  commonplace. The company even has its own armed police force, the Shell
  Police, who have themselves been responsible for human rights abuses.
  
  
  'Ruthless military operations'
  
  The democratically-organised MOSOP grew in strength, and 300,000 Ogonis
  rallied peacefully against Shell on Ogoni Day, January 4, 1993. The company
  was declared persona non grata and forced to stop all oil production in
  Ogoni. By 1994 a confidential internal memo by the head of the newly set-up
  Internal Security Task Force, Major Okuntimo, called for "ruthless military
  operations" to ensure that "smooth economic activities" could commence. He
  reminded the oil companies for "prompt regular inputs as discussed." Four
  conservative Ogoni chiefs were subsequently killed by a mob, an excuse for
  Okuntimo to launch a genocide against the Ogoni which has left a total of
  2000 dead and up to 100,000 as internal refugees. Hundreds have since fled
  Nigeria to refugee camps across West Africa.
  
  
  Judicial murder
  
  Saro-Wiwa and other MOSOP activists were arrested on trumped-up charges,
  tortured and held without trial. They were finally sentenced to death by the
  Special Military Tribunal, a 'kangaroo court' involving prosecution
  witnesses who had been bribed by Shell and the government to give false
  evidence. Despite its influence with the regime, Shell refused to help
  Saro-Wiwa. In 1995 the head of Shell Nigeria, Brian Anderson, told
  Saro-Wiwa's brother Owens Wiwa that he could try to secure his release - but
  only if the international campaign against the company were called off. It
  wasn't, and the Ogoni Nine were hanged in November of that year. Just a few
  days later Shell announced the construction of a $4 billion gas project in
  partnership with the regime. "A reward to the military or just a
  coincidence?" asks Owens Wiwa.
  
  
  Shell to re-enter Ogoni
  
  Huge rallies on Ogoni Day in 1996 and 1997 have shown that the Ogoni's
  spirit has not been broken despite Saro-Wiwa's death. The demands of the
  Ogoni Bill of Rights for respect of full environmental and human rights have
  of course not been met, and Shell's collusion with the military continues.
  Its corporate irresponsibility and arrogance is the same as ever, and
  against its own promises not to resume operations in Ogoni without the full
  support of the people, the company is violating the people's wishes and
  preparing to re-enter Ogoni for full oil production.
  
  For this to succeed the communities must be split: pro-Shell, pro-government
  organisations have been set up, local chiefs have been bribed to tow the
  line and some even forced at gunpoint to sign invitations requesting that
  Shell comes back to Ogoni. The company is also trying to split the NGO
  sector, particularly in Europe, by funding or 'consulting' certain groups.
  It has succeeded in co-opting those who want money or are naive about the
  corporate agenda and Shell's willingness to change. Shell's new improved PR
  machine is working busily on many fronts to repair the company's image and
  greenwash the dirt away. A number of journalists have been taken on Shell
  trips to the nicer parts of the Niger Delta and fed propaganda about the
  company's commitment to reconciliation and its support for the communities,
  while others seem to fear the threat of legal action and are effectively
  censored from reporting the truth. Shell's 'community projects' - which may
  involve taking over a project near its completion and erecting a Shell sign
  - are clearly little more than PR exercises. 
  
  Despite the army of occupation there is grassroots resistance to the
  Shell/government intention for renewed oil production in Ogoni. A Nigerian
  magazine covering the issue showed Ogonis demonstrating against the plans.
  This has led to the latest wave of repression: Ogoni is still an occupied
  zone, and any dissent is dealt with harshly.
  
  
  Militant resistance
  
  Across the rest of the Delta, recent occupations of flow stations and
  hostage-taking have disrupted oil production by Shell and Chevron. These
  actions are a result of the continuing anger felt towards the oil companies
  and the regime for the lack of benefits locally from the oil revenue, and
  the frustration that nothing is changing for the better. "The youths are no
  longer afraid of death," according to a southern minorities campaigner.
  There is also some ethnic conflict arising from Shell/government
  manipulation of tribal differences and of the local political situation. 
  
  The Nigerian oil workers' unions have a great potential for bringing about
  major change. They have a radical history of solidarity links to opposition
  movements in apartheid South Africa, and initiated a huge nationwide strike
  in 1994 whose demands had similar elements to the Ogoni Bill of Rights.
  Realising a lack of effective networking with the oil producing minorities
  during the strike, however, they are now working towards closer activity. It
  is clear that the Nigerian oil workers occupy a strategic position in the
  Nigerian economy, and that they are becoming more conscious of this. Indeed,
  a union official in Lagos said that the unions will "articulate a
  comprehensive agenda to challenge military dictatorship in Nigeria," and
  that Shell "could easily become the target of very serious political action"
  in the future.
  
  Meanwhile, other pro-democracy activists both internally and externally are
  building firm foundations for the organised structures of resistance needed
  to successfully replace the regime with some form of democratic representation. 
  
  
  Accepting responsibility
  
  At this year's Annual General Meeting of Shell the board and major
  shareholders rejected a motion from a number of concerned investors who were
  calling for greater corporate responsibility. The directors were offended
  that their competence or desire for monitoring environmental and human
  rights issues was being questioned. As Cor Herkstroter, group managing
  director, said, "There's already someone responsible for these - it's me!"
  And indeed, Shell is being sued by the family of Saro-Wiwa and the Centre
  for Constitutional Rights for conspiracy to "violently and ruthlessly
  suppress any opposition" to its operations in Ogoni and the Niger Delta. The
  prosecution also allege that the executions of the Ogoni Nine were carried
  out with the "knowledge, consent and/or support" of the company.
  
  There is an awareness that the Ogoni issue is a test case for our response
  to the growing militarisation of commerce and the corporate-sponsored
  attacks on environmental and human rights activists worldwide. Such an
  awareness demands a stepping up of our organisational ability and our
  activity. Paramount is effective networking and international solidarity
  with indigenous groups at the sharp end of the corporate stick.
  
  
  
  First published in 'Do or Die', a voice of British Earth First!  Issue #6
  (summer 1997)
  
  
  ______________________________________________________
  
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  ______________________________________________________
   
   
  nick jukes    (lynx@gn.apc.org)