west african pipeline dragged
before nigerian court
friends of the earth
nigeria
and
friends of the earth united states
© leslie fields,
foe us
In March 2004, communities affected
by the proposed West African Gas Pipeline
challenged the Federal Ministry of
Environment as well as the involved oil
companies in a Federal High Court in
Lagos
,
Nigeria
. The petitioners, supported by Friends
of the Earth Nigeria, are asking the court
to stop the project, which they claim is
being implemented without respect for
Nigerian laws, in contravention of the
African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights, and in total disregard of the
environmental and livelihood concerns of
local communities.
The West Africa Gas Pipeline is a
620-mile long natural gas pipeline
originating in Nigeria and passing through
Benin and Togo before ending in Ghana .
Although the idea for the pipeline was
dreamed up more than two decades ago, it is
only now that the project is underway that
the consortium of oil corporations and the
World Bank have decided to ‘consult' with
the people who will be impacted.
The communities involved in the lawsuit
are asking the court to cancel the
Environmental Impact Assessment for the
project, including the public hearings, on
the grounds that the companies did not
follow due process by consulting
communities. The oil consortium – composed
of Chevron, Shell, the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation, the Ghana National
Petroleum Corporation, Societé Beninoise de
Gaz and Societé Togolaise de Gaz – is
hoping to complete the project by 2005.
Neither the information provided by the
consortium nor meetings with the World Bank
and Chevron have answered the public's
questions about how the gas will be used,
but it is alleged that the beneficiaries
will be Ghanaian gold mining corporations.
The US Bush administration has touted the
US$450 million pipeline as one of the
projects that will help West Africa to
become a major alternative source for oil
and gas to the Middle East region in the
near future.
more information:
quadruple
bypass,
the west african gas pipeline
project
Pipe Dreams, Friends of the Earth Nigeria,
Oilwatch and Friends of the Earth United
States:
Friends of the Earth Nigeria:
www.eraction.org
Oilwatch:
www.oilwatch.org
Bank Information Center :
www.bicusa.org/bicusa/issues/africa/index.php
