Celestine
AkpoBari Nkabari, an environmental activist and human rights defender from Ogoniland
in the Niger Delta presented Peter Voser, the soon to retire CEO of Shell, with
a champagne bottle containing polluted water from his home and invite him to
attend a retirement party in the Niger Delta, in recognition of the massive
pollution that Shell has caused during its decades of operation in Ogoniland.
The
protest comes almost two years after a damning report by the UN concluded that
a succession of oil spills by Shell in Ogoniland over half a century will
require $1bn start-up finance and take 35 years to clean up. One of the
report’s findings was that communities’ drinking water was contaminated with
dangerous concentrations of benzene and other pollutants. Celestine, who is
from Ogoniland and works directly with impacted communities, had planned to
travel to The Hague to attend Shell’s AGM but was denied a visa after stating
his intention to attend the AGM.
Celestine
said: “I have travelled all the way from the Niger Delta to ask Shell what it
has been doing in the past two years since the UN report established their
responsibility for the devastating pollution in my homeland. We see no evidence
of Shell starting the clean-up. The only evidence that we see is the oil in our
water, the smoke in our air, the crops that die and our livelihoods and culture
that are destroyed. All the things that Ken Saro-Wiwa was fighting for, we are
still fighting for them. While Peter Voser is retiring to spend more time with
his family, in Ogoniland we are still fighting for a livable environment for
our families.”
Meanwhile,
two climate activist groups, Platform London and UK Tar Sands Network have also
joined the solidarity campaign at the Shell’s Stakeholders Meeting.
Source: Ogoninews
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