Amnesty report on Ogoniland baseless – NOSDRA

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) said that the recent report of Amnesty International indicting the agency of complacency was baseless. The agency, in a statement made available to Daily Trust said: “Amnesty International made some baseless, uncouth and unbecoming claims that are ascribed to an international non-governmental organization of its type. […]

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) said that the recent report of Amnesty International indicting the agency of complacency was baseless.
The agency, in a statement made available to Daily Trust said: “Amnesty International made some baseless, uncouth and unbecoming claims that are ascribed to an international non-governmental organization of its type. The representatives of the organization in Nigeria appeared to be out of focus and uninformed about the area they tried to discredit both in respect of the operations and regulatory functions of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency respectively.”
NOSDRA said that the NGO did not go to the field as it could not specify the co-ordinates of the places it claimed to have inspected. Neither did it crosscheck its imaginary statements with the relevant institutions before rushing to the press.
“It therefore becomes glaring that all the Amnesty International representatives in Nigeria is interested in is to justify the pittance they collect from unsuspecting international donor agencies by peddling lies about Nigeria and government agencies. Amnesty International has never condemned in any manner, oil theft, illegal oil refining, holding of oil industry operators and regulators hostages in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.