Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 16:04:10 -0800 (PST) From: Daphne Wysham <dwysham at igc.apc.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Precedence: bulk Sender: owner-50-years at igc.apc.org Subject: Press release To: <shell-nigeria-action at essential.org> X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by igce.igc.org id QAA05539 X-Sender: dwysham at pop.igc.org
Kent Communications Route 1 Box 9A mail:kentcom at highlands.com
BROADCAST MEDIA ALERT 1/6/99 Contact: Steve Kent 914/424-8382
DELTA KILLINGS ARE NIGERIA'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET Hundreds Shot in Severe, Underreported Niger Delta Environmental Struggle
Shell, Chevron, etc. Accused of Complicity with Military Regime on Crackdown Affects Sierra Leone Pullout, Prospect for February Elections, Big Oil Earnings TV Footage of Delta Unrest Uploaded Tonight 9:30pm EST on Reuters Satellite [Kaiama, Niger Delta, Nigeria -- January 6]
Somewhere between Iraq, impeachment, Sierra Leone, the Congo and the record Dow, the worst unrest in Nigeria since the Biafran civil war has so far slipped through the cracks in US news outlets other than wire service reports and Pacifica Radio. Yet this is an easily coverable story involving hundreds of killings and egregious human rights abuses with important context for Nigerian troops pulling out of Sierra Leone, profound implications for multinational oil company earnings and for the prospects for Nigeria's scheduled democratic elections in February.
On New Year's eve, the military government imposed a state of emergency on the oil-rich Niger Delta and government troops fired on non-violent demonstrators complaining of severe environmental and health damage from the Chevron, Shell and other oil transnationals operating there. Life expectancy and per capita income is very low amid the Delta's severely polluted land, water and air, and oil revenues do not benefit the local economy. The troops killed 26, wounded scores, incarcerated youths and leaders in the Bori Camp prison where the martyrred Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa was imprisoned. Thousands of troops, two warships and helicopter gunships (weapons purchased by the military regime with Delta oil revenues) were deployed against the Delta's civilians. The state of emergency was lifted Monday night, January 4, according to AP, but not before over 200 Ijaws, the main ethnic group represented among the environmental protestors, were pulled from their houses and cars and summarily shot, according to local sources.
Some wire services as well as US National Security Council and CIA briefings today indicated that Olusegun Obasanjo, one-time military ruler of Nigeria (1976-79), rumored to be the US's preferred presidential candidate, brokered a deal with Delta students' groups to cease action until after February's elections. The report is doubtful: Obasanjo has his own agenda as well as US backing and does not represent the Ijaw or the Delta groups, and the Delta
-more- NIGERIAN KILLINGS / 2 students' group in any case have vowed to continue their actions through January 10, so the crisis is very far from defused. Tensions in the area remain extreme, with many attempting to flee the crackdown harried by soldiers at highway checkpoints, and Human Rights Watch's Bronwen Manby says it could deteriorate seriously. Last night four soldiers in the Delta were reportedly killed in the Delta town of Kaiama, and threats and fears of severe government reprisals are running high. Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now" investigated the Ijaw citzens' groups accusation of complicity by Chevron, Shell and others in countenancing or ordering government crackdowns, and found they checked out. Shell for example, brought 26 troops armed with machine guns and bombs to its gas plant in Komo Creek. "Democracy Now" interviewed Bronwen Manby yesterday, who revealed that Chevron severed all communications with human rights groups just days before the government crackdown.
Wire stories on Nigeria today sport optimistic business reports about oil and gas exploration in the Niger Delta, notably that Texaco January 5 announced it found a gusher off the Delta coast, and that prospects for high earnings are bright, provided production in the region remains high. Texaco makes no mention of troubles in the Delta, or of the fact that the Ijaw groups have already non-violently shut down 40% of oil and gas capacity in their part of the Delta, and vow to continue shutting it down through January 10. The December 28-January 4 issue of Business Week carries a report that Mobil (a.k.a. Exxon-Mobil) also knew about environmental justice and human rights abuses arising from its operations in Indonesia, further opening an investigative path some reporters are following into what the transnational oil companies knew and when they knew it. The current pattern is that very low oil prices drive transnationals to exploit cheap oil as fast as they can regardless of local consequences. The Niger Delta's oil is some of the world's cheapest to exploit, hence the intesifying clash between local and transnational interests. Meanwhile, Nigeria's military ruler Gen. Abubakar has many troops engaged in Sierra Leone while also deploying thousands in the Delta. February elections are supposed to make Nigeria democratic, but these events are more indicative of an oil-backed military regime abusive of human rights. Delta citizens' groups are asking for UN mediation of the crisis and call for a divestment campaign aimed at the oil and gas transnationals in the Delta. So where is Nigeria headed, to representative democracy or military oiltocracy? See the attached page of guest experts you can ask on the air.
###
FOR CURRENT REUTERS FOOTAGE OF NIGER DELTA UNREST, AND FOR INTERVIEWS WITH DELTA EXPERTS AND SPOKESPEOPLE IN THE US, SEE ATTACHED AND CALL 914/424- 8382
Kent Communications Route 1 Box 9A mail:kentcom at highlands.com
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES 1/6/99 Contact: Steve Kent 914/424- 8382
NIGERIA'S WORST UNREST SINCE BIAFRAN WAR ERUPTS IN DELTA Shell, Chevron, Other Oil Transnationals Implicated in Violent Crackdown CURRENT FOOTAGE AVAILABLE TONIGHT ON REUTERS OVERNIGHT NEWSDAY SATELLITE FEED
WHAT? Over New Year's weekend troops fired on peaceful demonstrators, largely youths, protesting severe local environmental, economic and human rights abuses related to exploitation of cheap oil and gas resources by Shell, Chevron, and other oil transnationals. Pacifica Radio investigative reports confirm citzens' groups accusation of complicity by the oil transnationals in the violent crackdown. A state of emergency and dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed on the Delta, then lifted, but not before the civilian death toll reached 240 by local accounts. Last night four soldiers were reportedly killed in Kaiama, and the cycle of violence may well start again today. See the attached media alert for details. Until now, US news outlets other than AP and Reuters have had difficulty in covering the story because of a lack of reporters in the area, a lack of video footage covering the Delta and the difficulty of finding reliable sources to interview. As of 9:30pm Eastern time tonight, however, footage of the Delta unrest has been uplinked to Reuters' satellite, and a roster of media-available experts on the Niger Delta crisis has been assembled. This story has far-reaching implications for Nigeria's transition to democratic elections next month, today's negotiations for a Nigerian troop pullout from Sierra Leone, the conduct and earnings of oil transnationals, and American interests in the region.
WHO? In NORTH AMERICA and the UK: Experts are available for phone or in-studio interviews now. Call 914/424-8382 for info. All contact numbers are in the US except for Dr. Sawacha in London and Dr. Wiwa in Toronto:
Dr. Edwin Sawacha, President, Ijaw People's Association UK Chapter 011-44-1-81-452-6818 Paul Ekadi, President, Ijaw National Congress USA Chapter 912-283-8559 Janet Fleishman, Human Rights Watch 202-371-6592 Mondy Gold, Secretary General, Ijaw National Congress USA 718-380-4636 Dr. Owens Wiwa, brother of slain poet-activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and coordinator of MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People) 416-979-4747 x 2419 or 416-657-6180 Francis Porbeni, Publicity Secretary, Ijaw National Congress USA 919-231-6628, 404-371-8527
Inside NIGERIA: For details on arranging interviews with sources inside Nigeria, contact Stephen Kent, Kent Communications, 914/424-8382:
Oronto Douglas, a leader of the environmental movement inside the Delta and the former lawyer and fellow campaigner of Ken Saro-Wiwa, may be reachable inside the Delta, along with other sources on the ground. Contact KentCom for details.
WHEN & WHERE? These and other leading experts and analysts close to events unfolding in the Niger Delta are available for in-person or phone interviews now. To arrange interviews, or for more information on this breaking story, please call Kent Communications, 914/424-8382.
CONTACT: STEPHEN KENT, KENT COMMUNICATIONS, NEW YORK 914/424-8382 24 HOURS
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Daphne Wysham ph: (202)234-9382, X208 Institute for Policy Studies fax: (202)387-7915 733-15th St., NW e: dwysham at igc.apc.org Suite 1020 Washington, DC 20005 http://www.seen.org