Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), yesterday, called on National Assembly to start a legislative process that would hold IOCs accountable for the environmental damages they had done in the country.
ERA/FoEN also called for the establishment of an environmental restoration fund to tackle the issues of environmental pollution before proposals for divestment are concluded.
ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Chima Williams, disclosed this at a webinar discussion with the theme: “Time for a Legislative Pathway on IOC Divestment in the Niger Delta,” which was attended by civil society groups, and media practitioners.
Speaking on the topic, Williams stated that the divesting IOCs were not totally leaving Nigeria as they would want the public to believe, but were only moving their operations offshore where their operations could not be monitored and their environmental crimes could remain hidden.
While lamenting that international oil companies operating in Nigeria had lost the right to simply divest in Nigeria, he said they would not be allowed to leave the communities they had subjected to environmental and human right abuses, without addressing the issues.
