English / German

Ecocide destroys people's livelihoods. Where many see only a Shell gas station, Peter Emorinken-Donatus sees the cause of the decline of his homeland, Nigeria. "Every day when I have a wash, my scars stare at me. If you buy from Shell, you buy Ogoni blood!", he says. Peter had to flee Nigeria and has been fighting Shell for more than 30 years. Since 2020, Peter has been the chairman of the board of the newly founded association Pay Day Africa International, who started this petition.

Environmental experts estimate the number of oil spills since 1958 to be in the tens of thousands, with several billion liters of crude oil spilled. Nigeria's former natural paradise has been transformed into a hell on earth. The groundwater is so massively contaminated that conventional water supplies can no longer be guaranteed. In 2011, the WHO found extremely high concentrations of CO2 and benzene in the groundwater, more than 900 times higher than the internationally permitted limits, and 1,000 times higher than the limits set by the state itself. Several million tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere every year through open flaring, while global warming is causing existential concerns to people worldwide. Ecocide is a crime against humanity, although it is not currently included as an offense in the Rome Statute! Every year hundreds of people have to flee from this hell, risking their lives, paying huge sums of money and then being downgraded as economic refugees.

Environmentalists and activists who try to fight against it on the ground are executed or arrested. One of the best known among them was Ken Saro-Wiwa. Peter Emorinken Donatus was able to flee Nigeria. He explains why not only wars and conflicts, but also the greed of the Western economy for raw materials make life in the countries of origin impossible: "Whoever flees, flees from a perpetrator. In war, this is obvious; war refugees can usually name one or more aggressors who have made life impossible for them in their homeland. It is different with so-called economic refugees, who have no right to asylum according to local law: Their problem is a faceless economy, their suffering a side effect of the global market and therefore seemingly no one's fault."

With this petition we - from the association Pay Day Africa International - denounce and demand:

• Use of the same operational standards of the oil multinationals in the West and in oil-rich regions in Africa
• Immediate and consistent restoration of environmental damage
  Declare ecocide a crime under international law, i.e. recognize it as the fifth crime against peace
• Make CEOs liable!
• Reform Geneva Refugee Conventions: Climate & environmental flight as a reason for flight
• Adequate compensation for affected people and regions - now!

Help us - Pay Day Africa International and Peter Emorinken-Donatus - to make these demands public! We want justice for the people in Nigeria and secure the future of all of us and our children! 

You can reach us here: 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• E-Mail