"U.N. Slams Shell as Nigeria Needs Biggest Ever Oil Clean-Up"

"A U.N. report has criticized Shell and the Nigerian government for contributing to 50 years of pollution in a region of the Niger Delta which it says needs the world's largest ever oil clean-up, costing an initial $1 billion and taking up to 30 years.

The United National Environment Programme (UNEP) analyzed the damage oil pollution has done in Ogoniland, a region in the oil-rich labyrinthine creeks, swamps and waterways of the Niger Delta, the heartland of Africa's largest oil and gas industry.

Royal Dutch Shell and the Nigerian state-oil firm own most of the oil infrastructure in Ogoniland, although the Anglo-Dutch giant was forced out of operating in the region by communities in 1993 who said it caused pollution that destroyed their fishing environment."

Camillus Eboh and Felix Onuah report for Reuters August 4, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Niger Delta Oil Spills Clean-Up Will Take 30 Years, Says UN" (Guardian)

"Nigeria Oil Spills Have Created Ecological Disaster, Report Says" (Los Angeles Times)

"Nigerian Oil Pollution May Need World's Biggest Clean-Up: UN" (AFP)

"In Nigeria, a Big Oil Toll" (Wall St. Journal)