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Environmental Pollution: Niger Delta Communities Threaten $1trn Suit Against FG, IOCs


By Moses Patience Chat

The Host Communities Network of Nigeria in the country’s Niger Delta region has threatened to sue International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the Federal Government for $1 trillion over environmental pollution.

The President of the Association, Prince Barbs Pawuru, said this while speaking at the second Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence 2023, which took place in Port Harcourt.

He noted that offshore oil exploration activities were more attractive to multinationals as a result of the absence of monitoring.

Pawuru also accused the FG of conniving with IOCs to ruin and destroy Niger Delta communities, claiming further that the oil and gas sector was about cost and benefits, and that while host communities bore the cost, the oil operators and the government enjoyed the benefits.

His words; “At Host Communities Network of Nigeria, we are not even talking about benefits, but since you have destroyed our environment for over 60 years. You must carry out an audit, let us know the impact of your operations on our health, livelihoods, and environment, then we will demand cost.

“We are going to sue both the Federal Government and the oil companies up to the tune of $1trillion, which is the worth of the destruction they have done to us over 65 years.

“We are suing them either here in Nigeria or anywhere in the world to get the money, so we can repair our communities. We are over 3,000 host communities in the Niger Delta and they have destroyed our land and our people. Many of our people have died due to the effects of oil and gas explorations.”

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