As oil companies in Nigeria’s Niger Delta divest from onshore assets and expand their deep sea extraction activities, We the People has launched a series of community engagement forums with the goal of holding the companies accountable and demanding that they clean up the mess they have created in the region. The engagements also seek responsibility from insurance corporations that continue to support climate-destructive fossil fuel projects.
Between February 28th and March 1st, 2024, two town hall meetings were held in the Egi and Rumuekpe communities, where Shell, Eni, and Total Energies have been extracting oil for decades. We the People rallied a diverse group of community members around the urgent need to oppose the unjust divestment of oil firms, highlighting the importance of holding the companies accountable for the environmental degradation and ecological injustice inflicted on the region and its people. The interaction also underscored how the unexpected withdrawal of IOCs from the region not only perpetuates the Niger Delta’s historical neglect, but also exacerbates the people’s socioeconomic and environmental difficulties.
In their speech, community activists Henry Eferegbo and Prince Ekpere discussed how divestment decisions are driven solely by economic considerations, with no regard for the responsibility oil companies bear for the severe environmental damage inflicted on the Niger Delta throughout their operations. Both activists underlined the importance of addressing this historical injustice and holding those involved accountable for their actions.
We the People’s project lead, Grace Appolos shed light on the intricate connection between divestments and the role of insurance companies in perpetuating destructive fossil fuel extraction. According to her, by continuing to finance and underwrite these ventures, insurance companies effectively endorse and sustain the operations responsible for the degradation of the Niger Delta and the climate.
Community members voiced worries about the recent divestment initiatives by IOCs, particularly Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, and Eni, which were carried out in secret and without engagement with communities who have hosted oil exploitation for decades. The attempt to leave clandestinely has left local populations dealing with the severe repercussions of environmental deterioration, livelihood losses, and a destroyed ecology. Community members expressed their dissatisfaction at being abandoned without adequate restoration or recompense for the damage caused. The one-week-long activities which are part of a larger campaign called the Insure of Our Future Global Week of Action, concluded with community members demanding that global insurance companies, including AIG, Tokio Marine, and Zurich, assess their role in exacerbating the current crisis of the environment.
