June 5, 2008
This past Wednesday marked the 10-year anniversary of the fatal Parabe shooting, for which Chevron, the multinational oil giant, faces charges of wrongful death, torture and cruel treatment. Wednesday also happened to be the day of Chevron’s Annual General Meeting. On the occasion, Larry Bowoto, a Chevron victim at Parabe - an oil-platform in the oil-rich Niger Delta - and the lead plaintiff in the landmark case, Bowoto v. Chevron, which will be heard in state and federal courts in San Francisco this fall, issued a statement demanding that Chevron be held accountable for its role in the destruction of the environment and use of force against villagers there. Mr. Bowoto called for the corporation to “give up violence as a way of doing business.” His pleas were met with harsh criticism by Chevron Chairman and CEO David O’Reilly, who, quite remarkably, declared Mr. Bowoto a “criminal.”
Mr. O’Reilly’s remarks only further demonstrate the sheer insensitivity that characterizes Chevron, the insensitivity that has allowed the conglomerate to justify a pattern of grave human rights and environmental abuses not only in Nigeria but virtually everywhere it has a vested financial interest, including Ecuador, Burma and California. It is that very “mentality of impunity” that Nigerian investigative journalist Omoyele Sowore attributes to Chevron that guided its violent acts in Nigeria a decade ago.
It was May 28, 1998, and a group of over 100 Ilaje villagers had gathered in peaceful protest on the Parabe oil platform in the Delta. They were seeking redress from Chevron for the catastrophic environmental damage that their activities had brought to the region. The protestors’ calls for justice were met with violence. Bullets rained down from the helicopters carrying Nigerian military personnel paid by Chevron, before they had even landed at Parabe. When they did land, a security manager contracted by Chevron used a bullhorn to direct them as they murdered two of the villagers and seriously injuring many others, including Mr. Bowoto.
As a native of the small Ilaje community in the Ondo State of Nigeria, Mr. Bowoto had spent years running a small business selling spare parts for the boats in which his neighbors fished, and experienced firsthand the damage that Chevron caused to their sources of fresh water. As one of the largest coastal wetlands in the world, many of the Niger Delta’s communities can be accessed only by boat. The villagers there rely on traditional fishing techniques as a way of supporting themselves, and Chevron’s activities had poisoned the water, depleted food supplies and raised unemployment. Mr. Bowoto knew that many other villagers were forced to spend hours traveling by boat in search of drinking water and that in some cases, entire communities had been eliminated by erosion. Witnessing these injustices prompted Larry to take action and lead the May 28th protest – a protest that was brutally suppressed by Chevron.
The Parabe massacre was not the first instance in which Chevron had used violence as a means of protecting their financial interests in Nigeria. For years, they have directly funded the Joint Task Force, a paramilitary force known locally as the “kill and go police,” which brings together the country’s army, navy, and air forces. The “kill and go” have gained infamy for their egregious human rights abuses against anyone who dares to speak out against the widespread political corruption in Nigeria, which has been driven by petro-dollars. Their daily acts of violence go unacknowledged by the Nigerian media. If not for the 1998 radio documentary “Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria’s Oil Dictatorship,” produced by Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill, the brutal nature of the oil business might have gone without large public outcry against the company’s abusive practices. It remains all too real, however, for individuals such as Omoyele Sowore. Sowore also worked on “Drilling and Killing,” and has been imprisoned and tortured eight times for opposing the militarization and violence that multinational oil companies have brought to his country.
In spite of Chevron’s gross record, Larry Bowoto and those he brought to Parabe had no reason to suspect that they would be the oil giant’s next victims. In fact, on May 27th, as they camped on the offshore platform, they were informed that the onshore negotiations between their tribal elders and Chevron authorities were going well. A positive development in negotiations would have brought the Nigerian people closer to obtaining compensation, including environmental reparations, employment opportunities, medical aid, and scholarships. Hope for those services, which they desperately needed, was lost on the morning of May 28th, as the protestors awoke to gunfire.
10 years later, Mr. Bowoto’s left arm is permanently damaged. Dire environmental and economic conditions continue to plague his homeland. Yet, Chevron’s oil profits remain at record highs. As Mr. Bowoto recently stated at the Annual General Meeting, Chevron has the resources to do more for people whose lives they have devastated. Chevron must pay.
Mr. O’Reilly’s remarks only further demonstrate the sheer insensitivity that characterizes Chevron, the insensitivity that has allowed the conglomerate to justify a pattern of grave human rights and environmental abuses not only in Nigeria but virtually everywhere it has a vested financial interest, including Ecuador, Burma and California. It is that very “mentality of impunity” that Nigerian investigative journalist Omoyele Sowore attributes to Chevron that guided its violent acts in Nigeria a decade ago.
It was May 28, 1998, and a group of over 100 Ilaje villagers had gathered in peaceful protest on the Parabe oil platform in the Delta. They were seeking redress from Chevron for the catastrophic environmental damage that their activities had brought to the region. The protestors’ calls for justice were met with violence. Bullets rained down from the helicopters carrying Nigerian military personnel paid by Chevron, before they had even landed at Parabe. When they did land, a security manager contracted by Chevron used a bullhorn to direct them as they murdered two of the villagers and seriously injuring many others, including Mr. Bowoto.
As a native of the small Ilaje community in the Ondo State of Nigeria, Mr. Bowoto had spent years running a small business selling spare parts for the boats in which his neighbors fished, and experienced firsthand the damage that Chevron caused to their sources of fresh water. As one of the largest coastal wetlands in the world, many of the Niger Delta’s communities can be accessed only by boat. The villagers there rely on traditional fishing techniques as a way of supporting themselves, and Chevron’s activities had poisoned the water, depleted food supplies and raised unemployment. Mr. Bowoto knew that many other villagers were forced to spend hours traveling by boat in search of drinking water and that in some cases, entire communities had been eliminated by erosion. Witnessing these injustices prompted Larry to take action and lead the May 28th protest – a protest that was brutally suppressed by Chevron.
The Parabe massacre was not the first instance in which Chevron had used violence as a means of protecting their financial interests in Nigeria. For years, they have directly funded the Joint Task Force, a paramilitary force known locally as the “kill and go police,” which brings together the country’s army, navy, and air forces. The “kill and go” have gained infamy for their egregious human rights abuses against anyone who dares to speak out against the widespread political corruption in Nigeria, which has been driven by petro-dollars. Their daily acts of violence go unacknowledged by the Nigerian media. If not for the 1998 radio documentary “Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria’s Oil Dictatorship,” produced by Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill, the brutal nature of the oil business might have gone without large public outcry against the company’s abusive practices. It remains all too real, however, for individuals such as Omoyele Sowore. Sowore also worked on “Drilling and Killing,” and has been imprisoned and tortured eight times for opposing the militarization and violence that multinational oil companies have brought to his country.
In spite of Chevron’s gross record, Larry Bowoto and those he brought to Parabe had no reason to suspect that they would be the oil giant’s next victims. In fact, on May 27th, as they camped on the offshore platform, they were informed that the onshore negotiations between their tribal elders and Chevron authorities were going well. A positive development in negotiations would have brought the Nigerian people closer to obtaining compensation, including environmental reparations, employment opportunities, medical aid, and scholarships. Hope for those services, which they desperately needed, was lost on the morning of May 28th, as the protestors awoke to gunfire.
10 years later, Mr. Bowoto’s left arm is permanently damaged. Dire environmental and economic conditions continue to plague his homeland. Yet, Chevron’s oil profits remain at record highs. As Mr. Bowoto recently stated at the Annual General Meeting, Chevron has the resources to do more for people whose lives they have devastated. Chevron must pay.
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