Lagos — A coalition of leading Nigerian and international human, children and environmental rights groups has called on the federal government to establish an independent compensation body to address ongoing oil spills in the Niger Delta region of the country.

The coalition whose membership is drawn from Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development, Stepping Stones Nigeria, Justice in Nigeria Now, Stakeholder Democracy Network, Stepping Stones Nigeria Child Empowerment Foundation, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Advocate for a Free Niger Delta, among others made the call at a news briefing in Lagos weekend, urging Federal government to prevail on oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region to strictly comply with international standards in their operations.

According to the coalition, the independent compensation body should be funded through an environment insurance bond based on an agreed percentage of oil revenues.

Speaking while being flanked by leaders of the coalition, Gary Foxcrot, programme director, Stepping Stones Nigeria, which is based in the United Kingdom, said "the body should have the responsibility and resources to identify, respond to, compensate for, clean, remediate and restore oil spill sites. The board of such body should be cross representational of civil society, government and major oil companies. The body should be based on and uphold international best practice with transparency embedded through all tiers of operation".

He said the establishment of the independent compensation body has become necessary in view of how the US government is handling BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster which has resulted in President Obama securing a $20 billion compensation package from the company to compensate communities affected by the Gulf of Mexico spill.

"We are extremely concerned about the impact ongoing oil spills have on ability of children and their families to access basic human rights. We have witnessed first hand the suffering that has been caused by these ongoing spills. We have witnessed children crying as their parents die young from unseen illness. Like our friends in USA, we have seen the horrific impact that oil spills have had on the environment and humans' ability to produce the food they need to survive," he said.

Other measures which the coalition outlined that should be undertaken include: establishment of a prompt mechanism to ensure containment of oil spills and address critical social needs brought about by oil spills; making public all previous and present Environmental Impact Assessment reports; making public all Joint Investigation Teams reports as well as compelling oil companies in the Niger Delta to adhere to international standards and change of oil pipelines every 15 years.