Nigeria is the largest oil exporter in sub-Saharan Africa, but also one of the poorest countries on the continent. European multinationals, including the Italian Eni, operate in the Niger Delta since the Sixties, exporting to the Western markets the wealth of this land. About 20% of the oil sold on the European market comes from Nigeria.
Oil spills, gas flaring and other accidents have contaminated the land, contributing to the degradation of the environment and to violate the human rights of local communities, on which territories the oil corporations exercise their activities. The practice of gas flaring continues in Nigeria at the hands of the same multinationals, despite from 1979 a piece of legislation explecitly prohibits that practice and eventually many courts rulings have upheld the law.
Re: Common works in solidarity with the civil society organizations and local communities who oppose oil extraction, demanding compensation for damages and the restoration of the whole Niger Delta environment. Re: Common supports Environmental Rights Action (ERA) campaign aiming to stop the issuance of new mining concessions in the country and to keep oil and gas in the ground.
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