(Abuja) Amnesty International today called the situation in the Niger Delta a “human rights tragedy,” saying that the people of the Niger Delta have seen their human rights abused by oil companies that their government cannot or will not hold to account.
The oil industry in the Niger Delta of Nigeria has brought impoverishment, conflict, human rights abuses and despair to the majority of people in the oil-producing areas, says a new Amnesty International report.
Hundreds of thousands of people are affected by oil pollution in the Niger Delta. Particularly the poorest and those who rely on traditional livelihoods such as fishing and agriculture.
20,000 people who live in Warri South and southwest local government
area, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, are caught in cross fire
between the Joint Task Force and armed groups.
Amnesty International today expressed dismay at the decision by the Imo State House of Assembly to pass a bill providing for the death penalty for anyone convicted of kidnapping or whose premises are used by a kidnapper to hold someone hostage. The organization urged the Imo State Governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, not to sign the bill into law.
Four men arrested in recent days in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria
have apparently been forcibly disappeared by police, leading to fears
that they may have been tortured and killed.
Amnesty International today warned that police in the Niger Delta region are increasingly using illegal and violent means to tackle suspected militants and criminals in the area – including enforced disappearances, torture, and illegal killings.
More people were executed in Asia than in any other part of the world
in 2008. By contrast, in Europe, only one country continues to use
the death penalty: Belarus.
