Divestment: Women’s group demands ecosystem restoration by oil companies

Emmanuel Atteh

Following the planned sale of oil assets in Nigeria by Shell Petroleum Development Company, Agip and Exxon Mobil, a group in Ibeno, under the aegis of Ala-uchi Women Development Initiative in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, joined other women groups in the Niger Delta Region to reject any form of divestment without ecosystem restoration by oil companies operating in the region.

The Ibeno women, in a statement read by Mrs Cecilia Samuel Bassey, demanded the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission make public all documents submitted to them by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), in connection with their decision to sell its Nigerian subsidiary and all onshore assets to investors without consulting their host communities and condemned the act in strong terms.

The Ala-uchi Women also demanded that 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 while calling on the Federal Government of Nigeria not to approve the divestment of oil assets until all polluted farmlands, rivers, air, and forests in the Niger Delta have been cleaned and restored.

In an interaction with newsmen during a meeting which took place in Iwo-achang, Ibeno, the coordinator of the Ala-uchi Women Development Initiative, Glory Alexander Thomas, said the Ibeno women were concerned about the development because the reputations of the new corporations acquiring SPDC, Agip and Exxon Mobil assets were unknown to them, as the community people have continued to suffer the negative impact of oil extraction in the region.

“We the women are concerned because the reputations of the new companies coming in to take over the assets are not known to us, again, gas flaring in Ibeno has continued as of today and the people of our community continue to suffer from the negative impact of the oil extraction, without adequate compensation.

“The severe disruption to our agriculture, fishing and hunting has caused health issues among women, who have been exposed to hydrocarbons are not compensated for by the oil companies and our community is left completely devastated.

“The planned divestment has not considered the interests of community people, particularly the women. Thus, we condemned international oil companies and Nigeria’s regulatory authorities’ attempts to undermine due diligence, transparency and accountability in the divestment process. We call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to ensure that there is no divestment without ecosystem restoration,” she said.

Other women in their separate testimonies during the meeting, spoke extensively on challenges faced as a result of the oil extraction in the area. Some of them were Mrs Esther Iterecho, Obonganwan Jenny Alexander, Madam Rose James (from Okoro Utip), and Mrs. Evelyn Usen among other focal persons in the community.

The highpoint of the meeting was the collation of signatures of the women numbering over a hundred, in readiness to take their protest to the National Assembly, to stop the planned divestment.