Nigeria Content Online

The decision of Shell Petroleum Development Company
(SPDC) to ignite a new flare in Opolo-Epie, Bayelsa State, is further
testament to the company’s flagrant disregard for the people and
environment of the Niger Delta and a direct threat to government’s
efforts to bring about genuine and lasting peace in the region, the
Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has
cautioned.

ERA/FoEN’s warning is coming against the backdrop of
field monitoring reports over the weekend that confirmed the Opolo-Epie
flare lit by the oil giant on Sunday June 13, 2010, is still raging,
fouling the air and threatening the peace that exists in the community.

In a statement issued in Lagos, the environmental
justice group described the development as “worrying,” warning that it
was a throwback to a similar action by the company at the Gbaran/Ubie
Gas Gathering Plant in nearby Gbarantotu Community in November, 2009,
which was put out only after ERA/FoEN and members of the community
mobilized and kicked against it.

More flaring

“It simply beats the imagination what the rationale
is behind Shell’s igniting of a new flare barely days after it
announced it had downed the volume of flares in the Niger Delta by 65
per cent because of so-called gas gathering infrastructure that will
gulp an estimated $3 billion at completion. But we can, however, try to
input that that announcement was mere propaganda,” said ERA/FoEN
Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey.

“While it may not be too surprising that Shell is
taking this course of action due to our own government’s double-speak
and excuses on why flares continue, we are emphatic that Shell must
respect the rights of the Opolo-Epie Community and the generality of
Niger Delta people to a pollution-free environment by halting the
noxious plumes.” According to Mr Bassey, it was the height of
insensitivity for flare sites to be set up at a time the global
community has risen with one voice to condemn the practice, even as he
added that successive administrations have demonstrated insincerity in
halting routine gas flaring or put in place appropriate sanctions that
will guarantee an end to it.

He explained that gas flaring is a monumental waste
of Nigeria’s natural resources, and a mark of unacceptable double
standards by the oil companies, which not only contributes to
greenhouse emission but also violates the rights of the communities
around the flare sites, and must stop immediately.

“We have said it time and again that Shell’s much-touted investments
in the so-called gas gathering infrastructure is only a ruse to buy
time and perpetrate flaring. This is evidence that the wellbeing of
oil-bearing communities means nothing to the company and it remains
indefensible. The flares in Opolo-Epie and other sites in the Niger
Delta must stop now,” Mr Bassey said.</