Oil cleaning ‘scam’ warnings ignored by Shell, the whistle-blower tells the BBC

An investigation by the BBC has highlighted the allegations that energy veteran shell has repeatedly ignored the warning that the controversial cleaning operations of the oil polluted areas of Southern Nigeria have been surrounded by problems and corruption.

The multinational headquarters in London with the Nigerian government has repeatedly stated that the work to clean the oil-contaminated sites of Ogoniland, which was closed about eight years ago, is running well.

But the BBC has discovered the evidence that they were repeatedly warned in many years that the plan set up by the government and funded by various oil firms to the tune of $ 1bn (£ 805M), suffering from a link to issues Is.

A close observer has described a clean -up project as a “con” and a “scam”, which has wasted money and has left the people of Ogonland in the Niger Delta region who have left the people of Ogonland. Continue to be together – A 13 years later. The ground-breaking UN report lifted the lid on the severity of its position.

Shell told the BBC: “The operating environment in Niger Delta is challenging due to a huge scale of illegal activities such as oil theft.

“When spill is from our features, we clean and remade, regardless of this reason. If it is an operational spill, we also compensate people and communities.”

London’s High Court on Thursday features charges as expected to begin a civil test, where a lawyer representing two Ogoniland communities of about 50,000 residents would say that shell will be taken responsibility for oil pollution between 1989 and 2020 Should, allegedly from its infrastructure.

Communities say the spread has left them without clean water, unable to the fields and fish, and has creating serious risks to public health.

Shell, which is insisting on selling its assets in the West African country to focus on offshore drilling and onshore gas, has indicated that it will defend claims.

It denies the wrongdoing and says that the spread in the region is due to sabotage, theft and illegal refinement for which the company says it is not responsible.

The BBC has visited the affected areas in the Niger Delta, where the country’s largest private oil and gas company Shell discovered the existence of crude oil 68 years ago.

The United Nations says that at least 7,000 incidents in the Niger Delta region have been dropped at least 13 million barrels of crude oil – or 1.5 million tonnes – crude oil since 1958.

Spills have left many families concerned about their health and livelihood.

37-year-old Grace Audi lives with his partner and two-year-old in Ogle, where at least 40 oils have spread from Shell’s infrastructure.

Her family and neighbors have access to only one contaminated borhole, making them drink, cook, wash and, once a day, at the cost of 4,500 Nigerian Naira (£ 3, £ 2.40), to buy clean water for flushing. You are forced to take – in one. The area where the average daily wage is less than $ 8.

This is a familiar story for many in Ogoniland.

Paulina Egbecpecap told the BBC that Jutie Hariyali once surrounded her community’s rich mangrove in Bodo – which is not among those going to court on Thursday. He said that rivers and ponds worked with all kinds of animals and fish, especially Perivinkle.

The 50-year-old mother of six said, “This place was not only the mangrove, but also by all the coastline-pavapav trees, palm trees and more. But during the spread, destruction has polluted everywhere.”

10 years ago, until a disastrous spread, his family survived generations when fishing in his family.

“Most of the children – with drinking water – diseases have occurred. Many people have died. I have lost eight children. My husband is ill.

“Because our livelihood has been removed, people in Bodo are hungry and suffering.”

In 2011, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) published a major study under the influence of pollution on the oil-rich region.

It was found that a community members in Ogoniland were drinking contaminated water with a known carcinogen at a level of more than 900 times from the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline. The same chemical, benzene, were found in all their air samples.

It was also found that the sites of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria, Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, claim, are still polluted, are still polluted and techniques that were used, they do not even have regulatory requirements. Reached

The report concluded that a widespread cleaning of the area It will take 25-30 years – And it formed the hydrocarbon pollution therapeutic project (HYPREP).

It was initially established by the Nigerian government in 2012, but no cleaning was started – until it was resumed by a new government in December 2016.

Hyprep was participated by oil companies, including the state -owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and Shell, which gave $ 350M.

However, the BBC has seen internal documents that suggest that the representatives of the shell and the Nigerian government were warned several times of the agency’s alleged fake practices.

A person aware of the project talked to the BBC about his concerns – and asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprimand.

“It is general knowledge that what we are actually doing is a scam. Most of it has to fool the Ogoni people,” said Whistle-Blower.

“This is a cone so that more money can be kept in the pot and in power, it can be finished in the pockets of politicians and others.”

Allegations about failures in Hyprep are included:

• Companies are being provided who had no relevant experience
• The results of the laboratory are being declared false – sometimes to clean the contaminated soil and water
• Project cost is being increased
• External auditors are being blocked by cleaning cleaning on sites.

In the minutes of a meeting in 2023, representatives of Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, UNEP and HYPREP participated, it was reported that “disabled” contractors “were again engaged” and “did not allow them to further reduce the environment. Should go “.

In a separate leaked report seen by the BBC from the same year, it was reported that the laboratory results were “reported with regular deviations”.

In 2022, the United Nations wrote to the Ministry of Environment of Nigeria, warning that if nothing has changed, the “extremely poor standard” of cleaning would continue.

The BBC has asked the Hyprep and the Nigerian government to comment on the allegations, but have not received any response.

But our investigation has revealed evidence that Shell knew about the problems.

In January last year, in a meeting with the British High Commissioner in Nigeria, in which minutes were obtained under the Independence of Information Act, shell representatives accepted the “institutional challenges” of the clean-up agency and to refuse the future Possibility funding “towards it.

Shell told the BBC: “Hyprep is an agency established and maintained by the federal government of Nigeria, its governing council made up with senior ministers and government officials on a large scale, as well as five representatives of communities and NGOs and one With single shell representative. “

It is not the only therapeutic project in Ogoniland, which has been accused.

In 2015, Shell agreed to the £ 55M colony for a clean-up after two horrific spread in 2008, which was from its infrastructure in Bodo.

The company said that the cleaning by the Bodo arbitration initiative (BMI) is to serve as an intermediary among the oil companies including the shell and the Bodo community (and the oil is funded by the veteran and the oil giants and Nigerian regulators) 98% Has been certified as.

However, the BBC visited sites within the area and found crude oil from the soil to ozing and water.

Shell and BMI insist on any incident of oil spread in the region because due to theft – the industry is known as “oil bunkering”.

“There are plans to recall contractors to clear the contractors to clean the areas,” BBC, a director of BMI.

“It is the responsibility of taking care of all stakeholders, shells, yes, their facilities, to ensure that their facilities do not bring oil again.

“But for areas that have been cleaned. I think there is some responsibility to ensure that some illegal activities do not cause pollution again.”

Shell said that oils take active measures to prevent oil spread due to bunkering.

The company said: “We take extensive steps to prevent this activity and because of this, including aerial monitoring, removes illegal connections on pipelines, and manufacture steel cages to protect the velheads.”

Oil cleaning causes alleged failures as Shell prepares its Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC to sell the Renaissance Africa, a union of local and international companies.

Some locals in Ogoniland have accused the oil giants of “escape”, which is accused of cleaning the land and water properly.

He also fears that the shell may still benefit from the area by trading oil extracted from this region in the future.

“Any oil operator who captures relevant pipelines will have a huge impact on the day-to-day life,” a lawyer of Leh Dey Joe Snap told BBC.

“What will happen for these deals is incredibly rarely expanded.

“It is unclear how the Renaissance (Africa) will work further. We have the means of keeping them in mind with at least shell.”

Mineral products such as petroleum oil and gas, 90% of accounts from Nigeria, have an account for exports, most of which come from the Niger Delta region.

Local people, whose main source of livelihood has been agriculture and fishing, told the BBC that since the discovery of oil, or some were referred to as “black gold”, pump their home to benefit their house Was done – by major oil companies, oil thieves, by oil thieves, oil thieves. And by corrupt politicians.

They say they have not seen any benefit, only the victims – such as patience Ogboi who blames for recent oil spread crops.

42 -year -old BBC 42 -year -old BBC.