*PRESS RELEASE*
19th June 2025
*NIGERIA: SPDC ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES IN THE NIGER DELTA — THE TEARS OF BISENI PEOPLE AND THE CALL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE*
*“Where there’s environmental injustice, there’s an economic crime against humanity.”*
The International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights (ISSJHR) again raises a moral, legal, and humanitarian alarm over the environmental genocide and economic exploitation faced by the people of the Biseni clan in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State—a community rich in oil but drenched in poverty, pain, and pollution.
The multinational oil giant Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), through its operations in over 18 oil wells within the Biseni territory, has extracted and exported millions of barrels of crude oil, turning the soil of Biseni into a dollar machine for corporate profiteers.
*Crude Oil Extraction:*
The Numbers and the Value
Based on publicly available energy reports:
The Benisede (Biseni) oil field has been producing crude oil since 1976.
In 2015 alone, it extracted approximately 3.37 million barrels, averaging 9,233 barrels per day.
Cumulatively, SPDC has extracted tens of millions of barrels from Biseni.
At an average crude oil price of $75 per barrel, this translates to over *$2.5 billion* in revenues over the last decade alone.
Remaining recoverable reserves in the field are estimated at *5.33 million barrels,* valued at over *$400 million.*
And yet, the Biseni people have no potable water, no functional hospital, no motorable roads, and no compensation commensurate with the magnitude of environmental destruction they endure.
*Flooding and Ecological Collapse*
Oil exploration has caused systematic alteration of Biseni’s hydrological and ecological balance. Crisscrossed by oil pipelines and artificial canals, natural waterways are blocked or diverted, leading to seasonal flooding that destroys homes, displaces families, and wipes out farmlands. Wastewater discharges and spill-over effects have made subsistence farming and fishing nearly impossible. The flooding is not a natural disaster—it is a man-made consequence of greed.
*Legal Violations and Conspiracies of Silence*
SPDC’s environmental conduct in Biseni blatantly violates local and international environmental protection laws, including:
*International Laws:*
The Stockholm Declaration (1972): Right to a clean and dignified environment.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Article 24): Environmental rights are human rights.
The Basel Convention: Prohibits harmful waste dumping without accountability.
*Nigerian Laws:*
Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution: Mandates the state to protect and improve the environment.
Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIA Act): Demands rigorous environmental assessments before operations.
NOSDRA Act 2006: Provides legal instruments for preventing and responding to oil spills.
Harmful Waste Act: Criminalizes unauthorized hazardous waste disposal.
Despite these laws, the institutions mandated to enforce them—NOSDRA, Federal Ministry of Environment, and state environmental agencies—have become complicit, compromised, or negligent. They are either silent partners to corporate impunity or passive enablers of the suffering.
*Legal Remedies and the Path Forward*
The people of Biseni are not helpless. They are protected by tort law principles including:
*Negligence:* For failure to exercise due care.
*Nuisance:* For environmental interference.
*Strict Liability:* For engaging in inherently dangerous operations like oil drilling.
*Available Remedies:*
Compensatory Damages: For health, property, and economic loss.
*Restitution Orders:* For clean-up and ecological restoration.
*Injunctions:* To halt ongoing destructive operations.
*Class Action Lawsuits:* For collective redress and reparations.
But these legal rights are meaningless without access to legal aid, independent judiciary, and political will.
*Our Demands*
The Nigerian government must declare Biseni a zone of ecological emergency and enforce immediate remediation by SPDC.
The National Assembly must hold public hearings on corporate environmental crimes in the Niger Delta.
SPDC must establish an Environmental Justice and Reparations Fund for Biseni and affected communities.
NOSDRA and the Ministry of Environment must release and act upon all spill reports related to Biseni since 2000.
The international community and environmental watchdogs must open independent inquiries into SPDC’s operations in the region.
Affected communities must be empowered to seek justice in both Nigerian courts and international tribunals.
*Conclusion*
How can a community that generated over $2.5 billion in crude oil wealth live in such heartbreaking deprivation? How long shall the cries of the Biseni people echo unheard in the hallways of power?
Every spill, every flood, every child drinking poisoned water in Biseni is evidence of economic injustice wrapped in environmental warfare. This is not just a local crisis. It is a global shame and a crime against humanity.
The time for justice is now.
Let the world hear the cries of Biseni.
Dr. Omenazu Jackson
Chancellor, International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights (ISSJHR) issjhr.justice@yahoo.com
