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VULTURES NIGER DELTA OKONTA AND ORONTO DOUGLAS IKE — $24.00 (CANADA: $36.00) IN 1995 THE WORLD WAS SHOCKED by the news of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa writer, political activist, and leader of the Niger Delta's Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). Yet his summary execution by Nigeria's brutal military junta was only the latest horrific event in a centuries-old pattern of human MOSOP rights abuse andenvironmental exploitation. was formedoutofafinal, desperateneedtoprotestthe destruction of a people's land and culture by two forces: agiant multinational corporation, Royal Dutch Shell, and a series of corrupt and repressive Nigerian governments. In this importantbook, Ike Okonta and Oronto Douglas present a devastating case against both Shell and Nigeria's military regime ofthe 1990s. Since Shell first began to plunder Nigeria's rich reserves of oil and gas in the 1950s, the environment and economy of the country have been in steady decline, while Shell's profits have continued to rise. — Irresponsible practices including gas flaring (the ignition of gas in the atmosphere), laying dangerous high-pressure oil pipelines aboveground, and pollut- — ingwatersources have degradedagricultural land in this once-rich delta and left local people destitute, often lacking such basic amenities as piped water and sanitation facilities. Although Shell's "spin doctors" try to present a rosierimage ofthe corporation's pres- ence in the Niger Delta, Okonta and Douglas offer persuasive evidence to support charges of environ- mental degradation. Compelling and angry, Where Vultures Feast will draw new attention to a grave injustice. The story of — the NigerDelta one ofthe most endangered human — ecosystems in the world is a story that demands to be heard. ^Where Vultures Feast Digitized by the Internet Archive 2012 in http://www.archive.org/details/wherevulturesfeaOOokon Where Vultures Feast SHELL, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND OIL IN THE NIGER DELTA Okonta Ike Oronto Douglas SIERRA CLUB BOOKS San Francisco Authors'note.Inanefforttopresentasfairandbalancedanaccountaspossible,wewrotetooffi- cialsofShell Nigeria,requestingan interviewto affordtheman opportunitytotellus theirown sideofthestoryastheysawit,butourletterwasunanswered.We,however,didnotletthisdeter us.Royal/DutchShellanditsNigeriansubsidiary,inthecourseofrespondingtochargesandallega- tionsthattheyhadplayedaroleintheexacerbationoftheOgonicrisis,have,since1993,published briefingpapers,memos, andofficialbookletsexplainingtheirposition.We reliedonthesedocu- mentstoofferthereaderasbalancedanaccountasthedocumentsavailabletouswouldallow TheSierraClub,foundedin1892byJohnMuir,hasdevoteditselftothestudyandprotectionofthe — Earth'sscenicandecologicalresources mountains,wetlands,woodlands,wildshoresandrivers, desertsandplains.ThepublishingprogramoftheSierraCluboffersbookstothepublicasanon- profit educational service in the hope that they may enlarge the publics understanding ofthe Club'sbasic concerns.Thepointofviewexpressedineachbook,however,doesnotnecessarily represent that ofthe Club. The Sierra Club has some sixty chapters coast to coast, in Canada, Hawaii, andAlaska. Forinformation about howyou may participate in its programs to preserve wildernessandthequalityoflife,pleaseaddressinquiriestoSierraClub,85SecondStreet,SanFran- cisco,CA94105. www.Sierra.org/books Copyright©2001byIkeOkontaandOrontoDouglas Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyform orbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,orby anyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe publisher. PublishedbySierraClubBooksinconjunctionwithCrownPublishers,NewYork,New York.MemberoftheCrownPublishingGroup. RandomHouse,Inc.NewYork,Toronto,London,Sydney,Auckland www.randomhousecom . SIERRACLUB,SIERRACLUBBOOKS,andSierraClubdesignlogosareregisteredtrade- marksoftheSierraClub. DesignbyLeonardW. Henderson LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Okonta,Ike,1949- Wherevulturesfeast:Shell,humanrights,andoilintheNigerDelta/IkeOkonta andOrontoDouglas. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. 1.Petroleumindustryandtrade—Corruptpractices—Nigeria—NigerRiver — — — Delta 2 Petroleumindustryandtrade Environmentalaspects Nigeria Niger . . RiverDelta. 3-ShellInternationalPetroleumCompany,Ltd. I.Douglas,Oronto. II.Title. HD9577.N53 N54 2001 966.942—dc21 00-047078 ISBN91-5878075-0466-454321 10 FirstEdition ToNnah Uabari (agednineteen), who was murderedon October25, 1993, nearShellFlowStationNo. 5, Korokoro, Ogoni, Nigeria