-Caveat Lector- AFRICA-RIGHTS: OIL GIANTS UNDER PRESSURE TO PULL OUT OF NIGERIA By Danielle Knight 01/26/99 Inter Press Service Copyright 1999 Global Information Network WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (IPS) -- Human rights and environmental groups worldwide are demanding that foreign oil companies suspend their operations in Nigeria as reports of human rights abuses against protesters continue to pour out of the oil-rich nation. More than 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) -- including the Sierra Club, a U.S.-based environmental watchdog, and Human Rights Watch, also based here in the States -- are urging transnationals like Shell, Chevron, and Mobil to suspend their operations until the military withdraws from the oil-producing Delta region in southeastern Nigeria. "The best way for the oil industry to contribute to peace in Nigeria is to immediately suspend operations and to seek a meaningful dialogue that addresses the concerns of the Ijaw and other Delta minorities," says Danny Kennedy, director of the California-based Project Underground. Besides protesting at gas stations in the United States, Project Underground and other groups are hoping to increase pressure on the companies by placing an advertisement this week in "The Guardian," a Nigerian daily. Nigeria's army has been clashing with members of the Ijaw ethnic minority, who say the companies are polluting their land and that the Delta region remains poor even as oil royalties flow to the government. In October, members of the Ijaw community stopped the flow of one-third of the 2 million barrels Nigeria exports per day by occupying oil platforms and flow stations. Nigerian military authorities reacted by declaring a state of emergency in the area and deploying troops there on Dec. 30. Since then, NGOs here say, between 26 and 240 protesters have been killed in clashes with the government. They contend that U.S.-based oil companies have been involved in the killings by providing helicopters and other equipment to the military forces. The state of emergency has since been called off, but troops remain in the area, according to rights groups. "All we want is dialogue. What they want is force," says Oronto Douglas, a lawyer who is acting as spokesperson for the Ijaw Youth Council. "We are asking the multinational companies to withdraw from Ijaw areas immediately." In support of the protesters, the 200-odd organizations -- from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe -- are demanding that Shell, Chevron, Mobil Oil, Texaco, Elf and Agip suspend their operations in Nigeria until "all military and paramilitary units are removed, all activists released from prison, and the situation is peacefully resolved. "We believe that over 40 years of devastating environmental pollution and double standards by the oil companies are the principal causes for the tension," ran a letter they sent to the companies on Jan. 4. "We believe that no responsible oil company can operate behind the terror of armed soldiers." Chevron spokesperson Fred Gorell told IPS that the San Francisco-based company believes Nigeria is taking positive steps toward democracy and that it is moving forward with addressing the issue of distribution of wealth. When asked about the government's use of Chevron's equipment in its crackdowns, Gorell said the military has access to company equipment because the Nigerian government owns 60 percent of a joint oil project. "The fact is, because Chevron and all companies are minority partners with the government, law enforcement has the opportunity to use Chevron helicopters because they have the controlling interest," he said. In May last year, after protestors occupied one of Chevron's oil platforms, security forces were called in and opened fire from a helicopter that was allegedly owned by the company. Two Nigerian activists were killed and several were wounded. Shell has also been under close scrutiny by rights and environmental groups since activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni minority -- another Delta community -- were executed by the state for their campaign against the corporation. While the Anglo-Dutch company said it made a last minute plea for clemency, groups argued that it was helping prop up the brutal dictatorship through billions of dollars per year in oil royalties. More than 2,000 Ogoni have died in clashes with the military since their campaign against the oil giant began. Thousands of others have fled the country. "The Ijaw are, like the Ogoni before them, demanding their rights to clean air, water and land by exercising their right to peaceful protest and assembly," the NGOs said in their letter to the transnationals. "Oil operations, backed by the state security apparatus, have denied the Delta communities these rights." As non-governmental organizations worldwide keep a close watch on the area, they say governments and the United Nations are not paying attention to the government repression against protesters. "The United Nations is so quick to send high-level officials to Yugoslavia, but there has been virtual silence on the parallel situation in Nigeria," says Daphne Wysham, a research fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies here. "Despite reports of slaughter which involved multinational oil corporations," she adds, "there has been virtually no response." 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