The wasteful and environmentally degrading practice of flaring excess natural gas has been deemed a violation of the rights to life, health, and dignity of the people living in the Niger Delta, IPS News Agency reports. Justice C.V. Nwokorie ruled on November 14 in favor of the Iwerekan community, which filed a lawsuit in 2004 against co-defendants Shell and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company to stop the harmful practice. The ruling will affect all communities in the Niger Delta, including the Ogoni and the Ijaw.
Routine flaring (burning) of natural gas was first outlawed in Nigeria in 1984. In 2001 the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) ordered the government to compensate the Ogoni people for the abuse of their lands, housing, and health caused by the oil and gas production, which included flaring. The ACHPR also required the government of Nigeria to undertake a massive cleanup of lands and rivers in the Niger Delta. However, no compensation was ever offered and there was no environmental cleanup. Because of the recent ruling, residents of the delta may now be able to sue the multinational oil companies and the government.
