Background Briefing

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Recommendations

To the Nigerian Federal and Rivers State Governments:

  • Promptly investigate the 2003-2004 violence around Port Harcourt by the NDPVF and the NDV, including allegations of the role of state government officials in sponsoring armed groups.  Independent investigations must also be undertaken into alleged abuses and excessive use of force by state security forces. Prosecute any individuals alleged to be responsible for serious human rights abuses, including murder and wanton destruction of property, in accordance with international fair trial standards.

  • Take prompt and effective measures to ensure that families who suffered loss of lives and property as a result of human rights violations committed by government agents, including government complicity in abuses committed by the armed groups, receive appropriate reparation.  Work with international donors and multinational oil companies to obtain financial and logistical assistance to assist all those who have been internally displaced, and had homes and property destroyed during the violence in late 2003 and 2004

  • Deploy adequate numbers of police in Rivers State, in particular to the riverine communities, to protect the local population from potential acts of violence by armed groups. Ensure that members of the police force deployed act professionally, impartially and in accordance with international standards.

  • Take measures to stop the flow of small arms into the Niger Delta, such as the strengthening of controls over government-controlled weapons and the improvement of border security with neighbouring countries. Take the lead in pressing for the implementation of a binding regional convention on small arms to replace the ECOWAS small arms moratorium. Establish more robust mechanisms for monitoring the disarmament process.

  • Provide to the public, reports on payments of oil companies to the government and government revenues derived from the extractive industries sector, as recommended by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, signed onto by the Nigerian government in 2003. 

  • Establish a comprehensive strategy for investigating illegal oil bunkering activities, and for ensuring that such investigations and resulting arrests and prosecutions are not affected by political considerations. Explore the possibility of oil certification as a means of eliminating the role of illegal oil bunkering in fuelling the violence, by reducing the income that can be made from the illegal sale of oil.

    To donor governments and international financial institutions:

  • Urge the federal and state government to investigate responsibility for the 2003 and 2004 violence around Port Harcourt and to hold perpetrators of serious human rights abuses accountable.

  • Provide assistance for government and civil society initiatives to assist internally displaced persons.

  • Provide technical and financial assistance for initiatives to curb the flow of small arms in the Niger Delta and the wider sub-region.

  • Encourage full implementation by the Nigerian government of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and support the international campaign - commonly known as the ‘Publish What You Pay’campaign - calling for the mandatory disclosure of all taxes, fees, royalties and other payments made by companies to governments for the extraction of natural resources.

    To intergovernmental institutions, including the United Nations, the African Union and ECOWAS:

  • Urge the federal and state government to investigate responsibility for the 2003 and 2004 violence around Port Harcourt and to hold perpetrators of serious human rights abuses accountable.

  • Take measures to stop the flow of small arms into the Niger Delta, such as the improvement of border security with neighbouring countries. Press for the implementation of a binding regional convention on small arms to replace the ECOWAS small arms moratorium.

     To oil companies operating in the Niger Delta:

  • Publicly and privately urge the federal and state government to investigate responsibility for the 2003 and 2004 violence around Port Harcourt and to hold perpetrators of serious human rights abuses accountable.

  • Encourage full and swift implementation by the Nigerian government of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

  • Publish details of all fees, royalties, contracts and other payments made to all levels of the Nigerian government and to local communities, including compensation payments and community development funding.

  • Ensure credible third party audits of community development assistance, including payments that are given to community representatives to disburse or spend on community projects and employment agreements with local communities. Results of such audits should be made public to ensure that all funds are used for their stated and intended purpose.

  • Explore the possibility of oil certification as a means of stopping illegal oil bunkering.




    <<previous  |  indexJanuary 2005