Press Responses: June 26, 2001

Extracted from "Who killed Ken Saro-Wiwa?"
"Suit against Shell points to corporate responsibility" by Elizabeth Neuffer(Boston Globe)[ Source : "The Gazette, Montreal, Tuesday, June 26, 2001" ]


World Bank okays loan to Nigeria

The World Bank last week approved a $15-million loan to Nigeria to provide funding for Nigerian companies working for Shell.

The loan was opposed by Nigerian human-rights groups and Halifax Initiative, an Ottawa-based coalition for global economic democracy, who say the loan will exacerbate social tension, rights violations and environmental degradation in the oil-rich delta.

“Shell Nigeria and its contractors continue to operate in a reckless manner,” said Owens Saro-Wiwa, a Toronto doctor and executive director of African Environmental and Human Development Agency. “By approving this project, the bank has given a seal of approval to human-rights violations in the Niger delta.”