The planned by Shell to sell its Nigerian subsidiary by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and other multinational oil companies without cleaning up the pollution in the Niger Delta communities and restore ecosystem has sparked up protests in Bayelsa State.
Women from Bayelsa and other Niger Delta states who decried the planned staged a protest at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) press Centre in Yenagoa over the weekend.
They said husbands in the region can longer impregnate their wives due to toxic environmental pollution from the oil exploration and urged the Federal Government to reject the request by the oil companies to divest without first of all cleaning up the polluted environment.
Presenting their position paper signed by Mrs Emem Okon of Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre and over 15 women group in the region to the officials of the Nigeria Union Journalists, the protesters said that Shell's decision to sell SPDC and all onshore assets to investors without consulting communities is unhealthy, unethical, irresponsible, and therefore unacceptable.
Speaking during the protest, Barr. Dise Ogbise-Goddy of Do Foundation, stated that it was injustice for Shell to divest from onshore without restoring the ecosystem in Niger Delta where they have polluted over the years.
She said: "Communities in the Niger Delta have been at the receiving end of the environmental devastation caused by the company's activities.
"Shell PLC plans to sell SPDC shares to Renaissance Africa Energy, a consortium of investors, without regard for its legacy of environmental damage and the need for appropriate consultation with all stakeholders, remedies, and social and legal license to exit.
"It is instructive that the company has already divested OML 34 to ND Western; OML 17 and OML 29 without proper guidelines. We use this medium to call on the federal government not to approve Shell's planned sale of oil assets in Nigeria until all polluted farmlands in the Niger Delta have been cleaned and restored by these companies.
"The story is similar with other oil majors in Nigeria. Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Exxon Mobil Nigeria Limited, and Total Energy Nigeria Limited are poised to divest their onshore assets without engaging host communities and rectifying the damages done to their environment and the well-being of people.
"As affected Niger Delta women, we are concerned about the swiftness of these divestment plans because the government has not provided guidelines to resolve pollution issues before SPDC, AGIP, and Total Energies leave. The companies involved have failed to create women development funds to help victims of oil extraction. Women in the Niger Delta suffer severe environmental consequences of oil extraction.
"Decades of oil pollution and destitution have placed them in a vulnerable position, impeding subsistence agriculture and causing health complications.
"Women are concerned because the reputations of the new corporations acquiring SPDC, AGIP, and Exxon Mobil assets are unknown to them. In addition, gas flaring in Ebocha, Ibeno, Umuechem, and other regions has continued as of this instant; communities such as Otuabagi continue to endure the repercussions.
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"The severe disruption to agriculture, fishing, and hunting has caused health issues among women who have been exposed to hydrocarbons.The planned divestment has not considered the interests of community people, particularly women.
"Renaissance Africa Energy should make public all documents submitted for the acquisition of SPDC and all proofs of compliance with the so-called checklist and guidelines for divestment of oil assets.
"The Federal Government should not approve the divestment of oil assets until all polluted farmlands, rivers, air, and forests in the Niger Delta have been cleaned and restored." She said.
Some women from Otuoabagi Community, where Oloibiri oil is located, Mrs Joy Suoye and Inise Siba Daniel, narrated their ordeals, stating that the years of environmental pollution has dealt health challenges to the people of the community.
