State of the World's Minorities 2006 - Nigeria

Niger Delta

The Niger Delta is the main oil-producing region of Nigeria, which is the largest oil producer in Africa, and the fifth-largest oil producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). However, little of this wealth is distributed within the Niger Delta, or to the Nigerian people as a whole. Economic and social rights, such as the right to health and the right to an adequate standard of living, remain unfulfilled for many Nigerians.

The Nigerian Federal Government is the prime beneficiary of the revenue earned from selling the crude oil abroad. As the international oil price goes up, the state's share of the total oil revenue increases under a formula with companies. In spite of this injection of revenue and resources, the Nigerian Federal Government has invested little of these resources in the Niger Delta, where the oil-producing communities reside. Poverty in this area is widespread. Roads are in a constant state of disrepair; power outages are frequent; the water available is of poor quality and is often contaminated; schools are almost non-existent; and state-run hospitals and clinics are under-equipped or short-staffed, or both. In 40 years of operation, oil companies have left large areas of the Niger Delta unusable for farming, due to frequent oil spills, leakages, and the effect of gas flaring or other accidents.

Many of the traditional responsibilities of the state are fulfilled in parts of the Niger Delta by transnational oil corporations operating there, such as providing basic services or building infrastructure. For the communities, oil companies appear as external players who are taking the wealth from the region, sharing it with the federal government and providing little in return. Further, the companies are seen as operating on the traditional lands of the communities without consulting them, or consulting them inadequately. When communities object to specific projects, or ask for more compensation, the companies create divisions within the communities by supporting one faction, usually the chief and groups/gangs associated with the chief, who then forcibly secure the compliance of other community factions who may be opposed to the project. In many instances, the grievances turned into outright antagonism leading to frequent instances of abduction of company officials, sabotage of company property, and violence targeting companies. The companies have turned to the state security forces, which in some cases have used force, often arbitrarily and disproportionately, against individuals. The easy availability of small arms in the region has made the situation more serious. Calculations by Amnesty International based on local and international media reports, show that the number of people killed in the Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa States in 2004 up to and including incidents late August, could be in the region of 670.

Between February and April 2005 thousands of Ogoni and members of other minority communities were evicted from their homes in a Port Harcourt shantytown. The Rivers State government and the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) have been accused by the communities of demolishing their waterfront homes to facilitate planned company expansion and relocation from Lagos to Port Harcourt waterside, without notice or compensation. Some residents suffered a second displacement since they were living in the shantytown following earlier destruction of their village homes due to military activities in Ogoni territories.

The demolition was completed in April 2005 despite strong opposition from residents' groups and human rights organizations including the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). They stated that the shantytown, known as Agip waterside or 'Ogoni Village', had been demolished with inadequate notice and no compensation for residents, many of whom had lived in the shantytown for over 10 years. According to MOSOP, residents have been left to fend for themselves by the Rivers State government, and have been forced to move to other shantytowns or return to villages where their future is uncertain. On 9 April one resident was reportedly killed in an attack by youths, while a number of others were left with machete wounds. Reports have indicated police involvement in the harassment and the arbitrary arrest of residents. Agip has denied any involvement in the demolition and clearing of the land, which borders its existing premises.

International initiatives

MRG supported the attendance of a representative of the evicted communities at the UN Working Group on Minorities in Geneva on 30 May 2005 and joined Nigerian human and minority rights groups in calling on the Rivers State government for a full investigation into the demolitions and evictions and the actions of government authorities, the police and the Agip Oil Company.