The level of political violence foreshadowing the general election in Nigeria this month has once again focused the world’s attention on Nigeria. That focus got even sharper following the botched National Assembly election for Senators and Representative on April 2, 2011, which was canceled midway because of what was said to be logistical problems and late arrival of election materials to many states and polling stations. For Amnesty International, the focus never really went away as concerns about extrajudicial executions, forced evictions, death penalty and the environmental and human conditions in the Niger Delta area have been raised repeatedly by the organization and other human rights organizations.
Reflecting on its 50 years of human rights activism, which was observed in March 2011, its US section, Amnesty International, USA launched a pioneering campaign project using satellite and geo-spatial technologies to expose and fight rights abuses around the world.
The focus on Nigeria through a program Eyes on Nigeria (http://www.eyesonnigeria.org) is aimed at visualizing and exposing human rights abuses and situations in which human rights are at risk throughout Nigeria, including active monitoring of harmful gas flaring in the Niger Delta region of the country.
For many years, residents of the Niger Delta have complained that gas flares seriously damage their quality of life and pose a risk to their health, yet to Amnesty’s knowledge, neither the government nor the oil companies have focused attention on specific studies to look at health and flaring.
Given the human rights implications on this wanton human and environmental degradation, Amnesty International hopes others will join the organization in calling on the government and the gas and petroleum related corporations in the region to shut down the estimated 75 unchecked gas flares, which for decades have been a cause for concern regarding the health of the population and the environment in the Niger Delta.
Dr. Scott Edwards, the director of the Science for Human Rights program at Amnesty International, USA confirmed, “The Eyes on Nigeria project is a comprehensive view of the most pressing human rights issues facing the people of Nigeria”. And he hopes that people around the world will be inspired by what they learn through this new project to act in concert with the Nigerian people in demanding basic human dignity.
The Eyes on Nigeria project locates and maps each gas flare occurring in the region and estimates the impact on surrounding communities of the high temperatures, fumes and elevated sound levels caused by the flares. Also mapped are evidence of forced eviction, excessive use of force, police brutality, death penalty distribution among various states, communal conflicts and conflicts in the Niger Delta. Satellite images can be peeled back with a cursor to make a ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparison. (http://www.eyesonnigeria.org).
It should be noted that Nigeria has prohibited gas flaring since 1984, (unless a ministerial consent has been issued) according to Amnesty International groundbreaking 2009 report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta. The problem persists though. When oil is pumped out of the ground, the gas produced is separated and in Nigeria most of it is burnt as waste in massive flares. This practice has been going on for almost five decades and has been long acknowledged as negatively impacting human health and damaging the environment.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
