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SDN Newsroom

SDN staff are in the Niger Delta working directly with communities affected by the conflict and the social and environmental issues related to the extraction of Oil and Gas. We also work at the international level with Amnesty International and others trying to make a difference to the people of the Delta. Read the latest news as highlighted by SDN here.

>> Watch videos and news reports from the Delta

SDN staff are on the ground in Nigeria and will be updating this area regularly...

(For interviews or more information please contact + 44 (0) 7966755751)

Group flays poor revenue generation in states - Fri, 29 Jan 2010

Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platforms, a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) has flayed the heavy dependence on monthly federal allocations by state governments across the country, saying it has resulted to a lack luster attitude in exploring internally generated revenue in the respective states.

>> Read the full article on the Champion website

Video: Protests in Abuja at president Yar'Adua's absence - Thu, 14 Jan 2010

January 2010 video news report: There were protests in Abuja, Nigeria concerning the ailing President Yar'Adua.

>> Watch the full news report

Nigeria: Amnesty International - Police 'Kill At Will' - Thu, 10 Dec 2009

Amnesty International exposed the shocking level of unlawful police killings in Nigeria, in a new report released today.

Federal Government: Our hands are tied on as Flaring - Thu, 10 Dec 2009

The Federal Government has said that any attempt at stopping gas flaring through legislation now will lead to very unpleasant circumstances, which the nation can hardly cope with.

Such action, it said, would lead to the loss of billions of dollars derivable from carbon credit.

Minister of State for Petroleum, Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja while fielding questions from some State House correspondents.

>> Read the full article

Nigerian victims take Shell to court - Thu, 3 Dec 2009

On Thursday, 3 December 2009, the unique legal action taken by four Nigerian victims of Shell oil leaks, in conjunction with Milieudefensie, will begin at the court in The Hague. This is the first time in history that a Dutch company has been brought to trial in a Dutch court for damages occurring abroad.

Amnesty International - Oil can be a filthy business - Thu, 12 Nov 2009

Amnesty International - A catastrophe is unfolding in the Niger Delta. Entire communities are devastated. The land they have lived on for generations is poisoned.

International Criminal Court - Summary of recommendations for the African Union - Tue, 27 Oct 2009

The African Union (AU) is to meet on November 3-6 to review the setting up the International Criminal Court (ICC).

More than 160 African civil society groups have called on African ICC states parties to reaffirm their support for the ICC.

Waterfront leaders allege threats to lives - Mon, 19 Oct 2009

The leaders of Bundu-Ama community have raised the alarm over threats to their lives. This followed the alleged killing of eight persons by soldiers and riot policemen on Monday in a bloody clash over enumeration and demolition.

>> Waterfront leaders allege threats to lives - full article on The Nation
>> Troops, ex-militants in bloody clash - full article on The Nation

Waterfront dwellers arrested in Rivers’ community - Mon, 19 Oct 2009

PORT HARCOURT— SCORES of youths resident in Bundu-Ama, a waterfront area of Port Harcourt were yesterday arrested by security operatives on charges yet to be ascertained.

Amnesty International has condemned what it described as excessive use of force by some members of the security forces in Bundu waterfront community, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

EIGHT residents of Bundu waterfront have so far been confirmed dead in the shooting Monday morning by security operatives who were in the area to pave way for the enumeration of houses for demolition.

>> Read more at Vanguardngr.com

Spilling the blood of protesters in Garden City - Mon, 19 Oct 2009

They lived in a vast shanty town, but the ramshackle community was built on valuable waterfront land coveted by the powerful. In their continuing protest against forcible removal by the state government to make way for a new private development, the residents of this Port Harcourt slum are now paying for their resistance in blood.

>> Read the full article on 234next.com
>> List of missing and injured
>> My life is in danger say's Bundu-Ama Cheif

Njemanze waterfront demolished leaving thousands displaced - Sun, 11 Oct 2009

On Friday 28 August 2009 the government bulldozers finally came to Njemanze Waterfront in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

The roads to this sprawling and busy part of the city were barricaded by a large number of heavily armed security personnel from the police, the army and apparently from the Joint Task Force.

Thousands attend World Habitat Day celebrations - Thu, 8 Oct 2009

5 October 2009: Thousands of people took to the streets of Port Harcourt today at World Habitat Day celebrations organised by SDN, Amnesty International, Social Action and UN HABITIAT.

Witch children scandal: Akwa Ibom govt wades into crisis - Fri, 2 Oct 2009 By TUNDE OYELEYE

THE Executive Governor of Akwa-Ibom state, Gov Goodswill Akpabio have set machineries in motion to arrest the crisis currently trailing the attacks on Child Right Rehabilitation Network Centre in Eket.

Humanists to organise an anti-witchcraft conference in Uyo - Fri, 2 Oct 2009

In October(21-22) humanists will be meeting in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State for yet another conference on witch hunt and child abuse.

UN World Habitat Day - 5th October - Thu, 1 Oct 2009

The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day. The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

234Next.com: Paying the price of urban renewal - Tue, 8 Sep 2009

It starts to drizzle and Obinna Davidson finally lets his tears fall, probably relieved that his siblings and the journalist poking a recorder in his face, will be unable to distinguish between his tears and the rain. The Rivers State government began a demolition of structures at Njemanze, Port Harcourt, where Mr. Davidson has lived since birth, on August 27, and will proceed to neighbouring Abonnema Wharf community after that.

>> Read the full article and watch the slideshow at 123Next.com

BBC: Hope and rusty guns in Niger Delta - Mon, 7 Sep 2009

After years of fighting in the Niger Delta, some militants have begun to hand in weapons as part of a government amnesty programme. But as Caroline Duffield discovers the outbreak of peace might not be all that it seems.

>> Read the full article on the BBC's website

Amnesty International - Urgent Appeal on forced evictions in Port Harcourt - Fri, 4 Sep 2009

The government of a southern Nigerian state has begun forcibly evicting people to make way for a commercial development: thousands of people are at risk of forced eviction and destitution.

Residents revolt as UN HABITAT says 200,000 to be evicted or displaced - Thu, 27 Aug 2009

Thursday 27 August - Residents of the Njemanze Waterfront area of Port Harcourt today stopped a government buldozer in its tracks as it tried to demolish homes and businesses as part of the Rivers State Government 'urban renewal' plan.

The direct acion came as UN HABITAT released a new report about the ongoing forced evictions that have left tens of thousands of people in Port Harcourt living in fear of loosing their homes.

Video report: Another day, another oil spill from Shell - Wed, 26 Aug 2009

August 2009: A video of an oil spill by SHELL in the Edagberi community in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria.

>> Watch the video from Sahara Reporters