British MP, Report Slam Oil Firms, Allege Environmental Genocide in Bayelsa

… Say $12bn Required for Clean-Up in 12 Years By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa - Oil pollution in Bayelsa State was on the international focus on Tuesday as the report of the state’s Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) was launched at the House of Lords in London. The 211-page report titled: “An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria,” is a detailed documentation of the over 60 years of oil exploration and pollution in the state where oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in Nigeria by Shell. The BSOEC was established in March 2019 by the immediate past Senator Seriake Dickson administration. It had as chair a former Anglican Archbishop of York and member of the House of Lords, Dr. John Sentamu, alongside former president of Ghana, John Kufuor and another member of the House of Lords, Baroness Valerie Amos, as honorary commissioners. Baroness Amos, in her remarks, said the pollution of Bayelsa by oil multinationals was scandalous and shameful, calling on the international community to take action against polluters of the environment. She said: “The research and the evidence contained in the report tell the stories that are so important. The community impact of the pollution comes through so clearly and it is devastating. “This has been on for so long. It is an absolute scandal and we should all be ashamed that we have got to this point. Those responsible, including our international oil companies, should be ashamed of the roles they have played in their refusal to take responsibility. While presenting the report, chair of the commission’s Expert Working Group, Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, said “The commission’s findings shine light on the pollution catastrophe engulfing the state and its underlying causes. Chief among them are the systemic failings of international oil company operators with the complicity of Nigeria’s political class and a dysfunctional Nigerian regulatory state. At the event were Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sharafadeen Isola, former military administrator of Bayelsa State, Col. Edor Obi (rtd), chairman of the Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council and Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, King Bubaraye Dakolo, the Amanyanabo of Okpoama Kingdom, King Ebitimi Banigo, Europe-based stakeholders in the oil sector as well as Nigerians based in the United Kingdom. Read more: https://phmundial.com/british-mp-report-slam-oil-firms-allege-environmental-genocide-in-bayelsa/

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