MOSOP petitions UN human rights council over UNEP report

Posted by admin Headlines, Niger Delta Monday, September 26th, 2011

LEADERS of oil-rich Ogoni, Rivers State, have petitioned the United Nations Human Rights Council to prevail on the Nigerian government to commence the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni.

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which submitted the petition to the 18th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, in Geneva, Switzerland, also alleged massive seizure of lands by the Rivers State government for a purported establishment of military barracks and banana plantation.

MOSOP’s head of International Advocacy, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, during an interactive dialogue on the report of the special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, told the council that in pursuant to the recommendation of the then Special Rapporteur on Nigeria, Mr. Soli Sorabjee, the Nigerian government in collaboration with Shell contacted UNEP to carry out an environmental assessment of Ogoniland.

He explained that the study, which was released last month had highlighted a large-scale degradation of the ecosystem caused by oil extraction in the area, as well as the devastating effects on the Ogoni people’s health and subsistence, which is closely linked to the ecosystem.

Pyagbara said the report had highlighted large-scale pollution of water and lands and the depletion of local flora and fauna especially the mangrove forests. According to him, the UNEP report had revealed that pollution in Ogoni has penetrated deeper than many may have possibly thought.

“In its findings, UNEP indicated that some areas, which appear unaffected at the surface, are in reality severely contaminated underground. In one community at Nisisioken Ogale, the report noted that families were said to have been drinking water from wells that are contaminated with benzene – a known carcinogen – at levels over 900 times above World Health Organisation guidelines,” he said.

He said the violations of the human rights of the Ogoni people inherent in this troubling situation were profound. He added that Ogoni people’s rights to life, health, sustainable livelihoods and others were gravely imperiled because of the above situations and held serious consequences for the stability of the area.

He asked the council to “urge the Nigeria government to establish strategies and develop appropriate measures for the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the UNEP Report on the Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland.”

-Guardianwp_posts