Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta

296 Pages·2001·43.221 MB·English

by  Ike Okonta, Oronto Douglas

VULTURES
NIGER DELTA
OKONTA AND ORONTO DOUGLAS
IKE
—
$24.00
(CANADA: $36.00)
IN 1995 THE WORLD WAS SHOCKED
by the news of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa
writer, political activist, and leader of the Niger
Delta's Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni
People (MOSOP). Yet his summary execution by
Nigeria's brutal military junta was only the latest
horrific event in a centuries-old pattern of human
MOSOP
rights abuse andenvironmental exploitation.
was formedoutofafinal, desperateneedtoprotestthe
destruction of a people's land and culture by two
forces: agiant multinational corporation, Royal Dutch
Shell, and a series of corrupt and repressive Nigerian
governments. In this importantbook, Ike Okonta and
Oronto Douglas present a devastating case against
both Shell and Nigeria's military regime ofthe 1990s.
Since Shell first began to plunder Nigeria's rich
reserves of oil and gas in the 1950s, the environment
and economy of the country have been in steady
decline, while Shell's profits have continued to rise.
—
Irresponsible practices including gas flaring (the
ignition of gas in the atmosphere), laying dangerous
high-pressure oil pipelines aboveground, and pollut-
—
ingwatersources have degradedagricultural land in
this once-rich delta and left local people destitute,
often lacking such basic amenities as piped water and
sanitation facilities. Although Shell's "spin doctors"
try to present a rosierimage ofthe corporation's pres-
ence in the Niger Delta, Okonta and Douglas offer
persuasive evidence to support charges of environ-
mental degradation.
Compelling and angry, Where Vultures Feast will
draw new attention to a grave injustice. The story of
—
the NigerDelta one ofthe most endangered human
—
ecosystems in the world is a story that demands to
be heard.

^Where
Vultures
Feast
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012
in
http://www.archive.org/details/wherevulturesfeaOOokon
Where
Vultures
Feast
SHELL, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND OIL IN THE NIGER DELTA
Okonta
Ike
Oronto Douglas
SIERRA CLUB BOOKS
San Francisco
Authors'note.Inanefforttopresentasfairandbalancedanaccountaspossible,wewrotetooffi-
cialsofShell Nigeria,requestingan interviewto affordtheman opportunitytotellus theirown
sideofthestoryastheysawit,butourletterwasunanswered.We,however,didnotletthisdeter
us.Royal/DutchShellanditsNigeriansubsidiary,inthecourseofrespondingtochargesandallega-
tionsthattheyhadplayedaroleintheexacerbationoftheOgonicrisis,have,since1993,published
briefingpapers,memos, andofficialbookletsexplainingtheirposition.We reliedonthesedocu-
mentstoofferthereaderasbalancedanaccountasthedocumentsavailabletouswouldallow
TheSierraClub,foundedin1892byJohnMuir,hasdevoteditselftothestudyandprotectionofthe
—
Earth'sscenicandecologicalresources mountains,wetlands,woodlands,wildshoresandrivers,
desertsandplains.ThepublishingprogramoftheSierraCluboffersbookstothepublicasanon-
profit educational service in the hope that they may enlarge the publics understanding ofthe
Club'sbasic concerns.Thepointofviewexpressedineachbook,however,doesnotnecessarily
represent that ofthe Club. The Sierra Club has some sixty chapters coast to coast, in Canada,
Hawaii, andAlaska. Forinformation about howyou may participate in its programs to preserve
wildernessandthequalityoflife,pleaseaddressinquiriestoSierraClub,85SecondStreet,SanFran-
cisco,CA94105.
www.Sierra.org/books
Copyright©2001byIkeOkontaandOrontoDouglas
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyform
orbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,orby
anyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe
publisher.
PublishedbySierraClubBooksinconjunctionwithCrownPublishers,NewYork,New
York.MemberoftheCrownPublishingGroup.
RandomHouse,Inc.NewYork,Toronto,London,Sydney,Auckland
www.randomhousecom
.
SIERRACLUB,SIERRACLUBBOOKS,andSierraClubdesignlogosareregisteredtrade-
marksoftheSierraClub.
DesignbyLeonardW. Henderson
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Okonta,Ike,1949-
Wherevulturesfeast:Shell,humanrights,andoilintheNigerDelta/IkeOkonta
andOrontoDouglas.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Petroleumindustryandtrade—Corruptpractices—Nigeria—NigerRiver
— — —
Delta 2 Petroleumindustryandtrade Environmentalaspects Nigeria Niger
. .
RiverDelta. 3-ShellInternationalPetroleumCompany,Ltd. I.Douglas,Oronto.
II.Title.
HD9577.N53 N54 2001
966.942—dc21 00-047078
ISBN91-5878075-0466-454321
10
FirstEdition
ToNnah Uabari (agednineteen),
who was murderedon October25, 1993,
nearShellFlowStationNo. 5, Korokoro, Ogoni, Nigeria