LAGOS, Nigeria — Human rights activists Tuesday accused multinational oil companies of complicity in human rights abuses carried out by this country's military regime in the oil-rich Niger Delta, charging that the firms have made no effort to condemn or intervene in the atrocities.
A report issued by the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch placed responsibility for abuses committed in the tumultuous region equally with the government of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and the oil firms.
Communities in the delta, which are made up mostly of ethnic minorities, have reaped little benefit from the billions of dollars' worth of oil produced from their land since the 1950s. In recent weeks, local anger at the foreign companies has swelled into protests, sabotage and hostage-taking of oil workers, leading to a government crackdown.
"Oil companies legitimately require security for their personnel and property," the report said. "But the companies cannot shirk their responsibility to do something about human rights abuses that are being committed on their behalf and in their interest."
The human rights watchdog urged the oil companies to screen security staff assigned to protect their property, to investigate and publicize violent incidents and to publicly and privately call on the Nigerian authorities to ensure that such incidents do not reoccur.
International companies working in the Niger Delta, where most of Nigeria's oil is pumped, include U.S.-based Chevron Corp. and Mobil Corp., the Dutch-British Royal Dutch/Shell Corp., Italy's Agip and France's Elf Aquitaine.
They operate joint ventures with the Nigerian government--in which the state owns majority shares--pumping more than 2 million barrels of oil a day.
Spokesmen for Chevron in San Francisco and Mobil in Fairfax, Va., denied any complicity in abuses in Nigeria, contending that the companies are good corporate citizens that provide jobs and invest in community improvements and programs.
Nigerians in the delta, however, complain about massive environmental degradation.
"Multinationals have destroyed our basis of survival," said Doifie Ola, an environmental activist from a delta minority group. "Our people depend on the environment to survive. The oil companies have polluted the rivers and spoiled the lands."
