Oil giants Shell, Eni, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies breached international human rights law by selling their assets in Nigeria without cleaning up decades of pollution or compensating local people in the Niger Delta region, according to a group of UN experts. 

The southern Nigerian region has long been blighted by oil spills, gas flaring and discharges of toxic wastewater that have devastated ecosystems and jeopardised the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen, as well as hitting human health.

In a series of letters dated July 2 and published on Sunday, a working group made up of UN rapporteurs on human rights and environmental issues, said the four companies’ divestments of onshore assets in Nigeria had lacked transparency and proper accountability, which could hinder clean-up efforts and compensation for damage caused by their operations.

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“The subsidiaries’ operations in Nigeria have caused widespread environmental damage for decades,” the letters read, saying this had threatened numerous basic rights including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, the right to safe drinking water and the right to access remedy.

Major multinational oil companies have in recent years sold off their oil assets in Nigeria to local companies, without paying adequate compensation and environmental restoration costs, campaigners say.

In the Niger Delta state of Bayelsa alone, the cost of repairing damage has been estimated by the local environment commission at $12 billion, raising concerns the buyers do not have the means to pay for the clean-up. 

Tobechukwu Diolu, a Niger Delta-based environmental defender, said the UN experts’ position was “a validation” of what communities in the region have been saying for years.

“(It) gives us a form of legal framework to establish a defence for those living with oil spillage, to demand a clean-up fund and to insist that decommissioning cannot be abandoned,” said Diolu, whose climate advocacy organisation Lincgreen Initiative has been working with young people to push for justice in the region.

Leaving the clean-up bill unpaid

The UN experts said divestment of oil and natural gas assets may become more common as the world transitions away from fossil fuels, making compensation for past damage even more crucial.

“It is therefore of considerable importance that human rights abuses arising from the form of divestment now being used by oil companies are fully addressed and effectively remediated and compensated,” they wrote.

Diolu, the local campaigner, said: “Justice must come first before any transition.”

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Some hard-hit Niger Delta communities have turned to the courts to seek compensation. Earlier this year, a British court began hearing a case brought by the Bille and Ogale communities against London-headquartered Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary, which was taken over by Renaissance Africa Energy Company. 

Sophie Marjanac, director of legal strategy at the Polluter Pays Project, an advocacy group, said the UN experts’ intervention strengthened lawsuits already underway in Nigerian and international courts by making “it clear the firms have legal obligations to rectify the human rights abuses they’ve caused”.

In a written response to the UN group’s letter, Shell said it had “embedded respect for human rights” in its business principles and conducts divestments responsibly, screening buyers for technical and financial capability.

It said the sale of its Nigerian subsidiary to Renaissance was approved by the federal government after an “extensive review” and due diligence. It added that Renaissance – whose leadership is comprised of former Shell staff – will remain a