Nigeria: Are human rights in the pipeline?

The failure of the Nigerian government to rigorously enforce its obligations to protect human rights is fuelling violations of civil and political as well as economic, social and cultural rights in the process of the oil exploration and production in the Niger Delta, Amnesty International said in a new report entitled 'Nigeria: Are human rights in the pipeline?' The report examines how the human rights of individuals and communities have been abused as a result of practices of some transnational corporations (TNCs) and violated by the inactions and actions of the Nigerian Federal Government in the Niger Delta. It also includes three cases highlighting issues such as non-inclusive consultation processes and the failure to clean up oil spills, involving the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) and the Nigerian Agip Oil Corporation (NAOC).