Shell Nigeria.... graft claims

By correspondents in Lagos and London
SHELL, the international oil giant, is planning a purge of
executives in its Nigeria operations following the discovery
of a "black hole of corruption" involving the payment of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to tribal chiefs, community leaders and the military in the troubled Ogoni region.

An investigation has uncovered serious allegations of corruption against Shell Nigeria, including the claim that a senior army officer, accused of ordering the murder and torture of Ogoni dissidents, was on Shell's payroll.

Shell, the largest foreign oil company in Nigeria, has repeatedly denied any involvement in the country's politics.

The company was heavily criticised for its role in the country after the execution last month of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists. The activists had accused Shell Nigeria of causing extensive environmental damage in the Ogoni region, one of the main oil-producing areas in Nigeria.

Despite demands by protesters to scrap the deal, Shell Nigeria and its partners in Nigeria's liquefied natural gas project announced at the weekend that they had signed the main construction contract worth an estimated f1 billion ($2.5 billions).

Documents from Shell Nigeria, the military government sources
indicate a close reltionship between local branches of the oil company and General Sani Abacha's brutal military regime.

While no Australians who have worked for Shell have been involved in any of the alledged activities, the most damaging claim is that Shell Nigeria officials paid Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Okuntimo, who was responsible for crushing civil unrest in Ogoniland and opposition to Shell's presence in the province.

Col. Okuntimo is accused of waging a campaign of murder, rape
and torture throughout Ogoniland.

In a memo to the administrator of Rivers State, Col. Okuntimo
urged "wasting operations coupled with psychological tactics
of displacement" against Ogonis. He advised: "Shell operations still impossible unless ruthless military operations are undertaken for smooth economic activities to commence."

Col. Okuntimo last week admitted being paid by Shell Nigeria
while he was in charge of crushing Ogoni protests against the
company. "Shell contributed to the logistics through
financial support. To do this, we needed resources and Shell
provided these" he said. He later denied the comments.

The evidence against him is supported by a conversation
between Col. Okuntimo and a British environmentalist,
Mr Nick Ashton-Jones, and a Nigerian journalist, Mr Oronto Douglas in June last year.

Mr Ashton-Jones recalled: "He said he was doing a wonderful
job for the Government and he was disappointed that Shell
had stopped paying him. He said that everything he was doing
was for Shell" Mr Douglas published his account of the meeting three days later, corraborated Mr Ashton-Jones.

The managing director of Shell Nigeria, Mr Brian Anderson,
who has pledged to clean up the company's operations, said
of Col. Okuntimo: "From what I hear of his recent past, he is
a fairly brutal person. I'd like to know if we were involved
with somebody like that so we could stamp it out."

A Shell report on its Nigerian operations, written by independent auditors, highlights the role played by the head of Shell's public and governmental affairs in the eastern region and the man cited by many as the link with Okuntimo, Mr Steve Lawson-Jack.

Mr Lawson-Jack who has been on leave for six weeks, is held
"culpable" by the auditors for his part in arranging a
80,000 (pound sterling), ($186,000) compensation claim against the company for a bogus oil spill. Yesterday he denied any wrongdoing: "I have no personal links with Okuntimo but my job sometimes involves meeting government personnel," he said.

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Mr Anderson said he wss considering Mr Lawson-Jack's future. He said 20 Shell employees could be dismissed as a result of internal investigations. "It's like a black hole of corruption, acting like a gravity that is pulling us down all the time." A European Shell Executive who wanted to remain anonymous said: "I would go so far as to say that we spent more money in bribes and corruption than on community development projects."

The picture that emerges from investigations is of a company
that let whole sections of its operations run rampant. While
Shell International cites a figure of f12.5 million (pound sterling) a year spent on community projects by its Nigerian subsidiary much of this money eneded up in the pockets of Shell Nigeria officials, community leaders and military officers.

The role of Mr Lawson-Jack and his department is increasingly
under scrutiny. "Shell, through Steve Lawson-Jack gave me every opportunity to become a small millionaire," said Mr Saturday Kpakol, an Ogoni community leader.

Mr Kpakol detailed how in 1990, as an unemployed teacher, he set up a pressure group called Council of Concerned Indigents in order to try to cut a deal with Shell Nigeria. "We had series of meetings with Lawson-Jack, detailing demands such as providing water to our village, equipping our health centre and providing us scholarships. Then in 1992 we joined up with Mosop, the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, and stopped some
Shell operations.

"Lawson-Jack called me to come and gace me a contract from,
saying why don't you forget about these protest and join us. He offered to give me a contract to install water pipes outside
the village."

Mr Anderson insisted that Shell Nigeria had not sought military or police protection for its workers since 1990.

But Mr Precious Omuku, head of public relations for Shell in eastern Nigeria, admitted the company had called for military protection in Ogoniland in 1993 and approved a request from one of the company's contractors to seek the protection of Col. Okuntimo's men for workers laying a pipeline.

A memo from M J Udofia, then Shell general manager east, to the State governor, makes a request for "the usual assistance" in restoring order. Mr Omuku admits that in Ogoniland this invevitably led to the involvement of the military.

A Shell spokesman in London said: "Shell Nigeria has not
authorised any financial support to the military. If there is any evidence that it has happened, we will gladly look at it."