Amnesty International (AI) has challenged Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to overhaul its clean-up methods and match Federal Government’s new commitment to tackle oil pollution in the Niger Delta by dramatically improving on how it cleans up spills.
The human rights group welcomed President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement on a trust fund to pay for the clean-up of the Ogoniland region in the Niger Delta, but noted that if Shell’s ineffective clean-up methods were not fully overhauled, its impact would be limited.
The AI’s Researcher on Business and Human Rights, Mark Dummett, in a statement, yesterday, observed that  $10million was far below the $1billion that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said should be paid into the fund to cover the first five years of a clean-up job, which could take up to 30 years.
According to him, the UNEP study recommended that the contributions should be made by both the oil industry and the government.
Dummett, who had just returned from the Niger Delta, explained that the establishment of the trust fund was a key recommendation of the UNEP, which published a study on oil pollution in Ogoniland four years ago.
The fund will be overseen by representatives of the Ogoni people, the United Nations, the oil companies operating in Nigeria and the government itself.
According to the government, “stakeholders” will pay an initial $10m into the fund.
Dummett said, “It is scandalous that Shell, which now wants the world to trust it to drill in the Arctic, has failed to properly implement the UN’s expert advice on oil spill response after so long.
“President Buhari’s initiative will fail, and the Ogoni people will continue to suffer, as long as Shell fails to make significant changes to the way it approaches oil spill clean-up.”
Amnesty International said its researchers, investigating spill sites in the region, had this month found oil on the soil and in nearby water bodies, in areas where Shell contractors were reported to have recently carried out remediation.