Subject: Greenpeace & Earth First! reports on Shell in Ogoniland (fwd)

From: Mat <[email-masked]>
Date: 14 May 1995 01:33:31 +0100

1) Reproduced from Greenpeace Business, Feb.1995 no.23:

The Greenpeace campaign against the environmental degradation of the
Ogoniland in Nigeria continued last month with a demonstration outside
Shell's UK headquarters. A meeting also took place between Greenpeace
representatives and Shell executives to discuss the inextricable links
between the company and their oil extraction activities in Nigeria.

Royal Dutch Shell has been drilling oil in the Ogoni region since 1958,
extracting an estimated $30bn worth of oil over that time. As a result,
local people have suffered from spills, pipeline ruptures and fires.
Shell derives 14% of all its oil from Nigeria.

Last May, four Ogoni leaders were killed and a leading Ogoni
environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was arrested and has been held
without being formally charged. Mr. Saro-Wiwa has been a persistent
critic of Shell's activities in the area.

Greenpeace released an internal Nigerian Government memo which suggests
the atrocities and human rights violations of Shell's opponents in
Ogoniland were carefully planned by the Nigerian military Government.

In discussions with Greenpeace on this highly complex issue, Shell
executives hid behind the 'it's not our problem' traditional response.
Greenpeace believes that a multinational like Shell - which is operating
a highly profitable operation in Nigeria, cannot possibly say they are
only interested in and responsible for the business of extracting oil.
Shell continues to play a major part in Nigeria's economy and political
system. It is impossible to separate business and politics.

The indivisible nature of this relationship is highlighted by the
actions of the Nigerian military. Many observers agree that the Nigerian
military is repressing Ogoni people to ensure that Shell oil continues
to flow.

Shell is inextricably linked with the environmental devastation in
Ogoniland. At the meeting Greenpeace pressed embarrassed Shell
executives on a number of issues:

* Given your involvement in Nigeria, are you happy that Mr. Saro-Wiwa
has been held in detention without charge since last May and may well be
sentenced to death? The lack of formal charges, legal representation,
and medical attention clearly worried Shell executives.

* Why have you been refused to allow an independant environmental
enquiry surrounding Shell's activities in Ogoniland? Shell were also
clearly worried about this and were considering backing down on the
issue.

Companies like Shell can and should be taking more positive actions in
situations like Ogoni. The generation of corporate profits demands more
responsible actions. If Shell worked as hard on its corporate and
environmental image in Nigeria as they do in Western Europe, these
problems would have been solved long ago.

Contact Paul Horsman on 0171 354 5100
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2) Reproduced from Earth First! (London) leaflet:

                             KILLING FOR OIL
          Hundreds murdered, land polluted, villages decimated
                             GIVE SHELL HELL
                                May 18th

May 18th is Shell's annual general meeting. The director will tell
shareholders of Shell's impeccable environmental record, of their
strenuous efforts to support local community initiatives. Then the free
drinks and self-congratulatory banter. But behind the amiable efficient
image lies a darker truth.

                       You can be sure of Shell

In the past 30 years Shell have extracted over $200 billion from the
lands of Ogoni and other ethnic groups on the Niger Delta. In return the
Ogoni have been showered in black soot from gas flaring, and have seen
their farmland ruined by oil spills. When the Ogoni protest, Shell call
in the troops, and action which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds
of Ogoni.

                       International terrorism?

To Shell the Ogoni are expendable; profits made are certainly not. When
the oil runs out, company directors and shareholders in fortress Europe
will merely relocate operations elsewhere. Shell have already earned a
place in the hall of racist fame for their support of apartheid South
Africa. Then as now, they continue to maintain strict double standards
in the treatment they mete out to Africans and Europeans. Imagine 1000
people from Aberdeen being massacred for peacefully protesting about
pollution so bad that water is undrinkable and crops ungrowable...

"Once again from my detention cell I implore the international community
of men and women of goodwill throughout the world to prevail on the
Nigerian government and Shell to stop this carnage, this genocide."

 - Ken Saro-Wiwa (Ogoni tribal leader in prison on fabricated charges
 awaiting execution.)

"The web of multinational power can only be tackled by solidarity and
resistance which recognises no borders. We must respond to the
globalisation of the market with the globalisation of protest."

 - Arthur Scargill

                        Annual General Mayhem

Thursday 18 May, 9.30 AM, Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre opposite
Westminster Abbey. Be there. For more info ring 0171 254 2290.
                                                Earth First! (London)
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NB. I do not subscribe to any particular parties or pressure groups. I
hope the above helps to stimulate justice. (Above all keep it peaceful!)