Motion for a resolution - B7-0259/2010Motion for a resolution
B7-0259/2010

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the massacres in Nigeria

28.4.2010

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Marie-Christine Vergiat, Gabriele Zimmer on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group

Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B7-0259/2010
Texts tabled :
B7-0259/2010
Texts adopted :

B7‑0259/2010

European Parliament resolution on the massacres in Nigeria

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its earlier resolutions on human rights violations in Nigeria,

–   having regard to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Nigeria on 29 October 1993,

–   having regard to the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ratified by Nigeria on 22 June 1983,

–   having regard to the emergency appeal for funds launched by Unicef to help children in the Sahel countries,

–   having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas nearly ten million people are threatened by a serious food crisis in the coming months in the eastern Sahel,

B.  whereas half the inhabitants of Niger – some 7.5 million people – are at threat, with western and central Chad, north-eastern Mali, northern Nigeria and some regions of Burkina Faso and Mauritania also affected to differing extents,

C. whereas, although Nigeria is the eighth-largest oil producer in the world, the majority of its 148 million people live below the poverty line,

D. whereas the exploitation of oil in Nigeria takes place at the expense of its people’s most basic social, economic and environmental needs,

E.  whereas the stranglehold of the main oil companies (Shell, Total, Exxon, Agip etc.) over oil exploitation in Nigeria is condoned by its rulers at the expense of its people’s needs,

F.  having regard to the allegations of massive fraud at the last presidential elections,

G. whereas the climate of civil war which has prevailed in Nigeria for many years, as well as the recent acts of violence against the oil companies (particularly Total), is closely linked to the issue of control over and access to natural resources (principally oil and gas),

H. whereas the attacks and massacres which took place in January and March 2010 between indigenous groups, predominantly Christian or animist, and the people of the north of the country, are primarily due to the lack of social and economic development in these regions,

I.   whereas, following these attacks and massacres, 42 000 people from Plateau State, 90% of them women and children, became displaced,

J.   whereas the perpetrators of these acts are often mercenaries, and whereas they and those giving them their orders largely go unpunished,

1.  Calls for the establishment of an emergency plan and the release of funds for the people in the eastern Sahel to relieve the food crisis;

2.  Stresses that everything needs to be done to ensure that the policies necessary for economic, social and environmental development are implemented in Nigeria;

3.  Roundly condemns the violence in the centre of Nigeria and expresses its concern at the state of civil war which has prevailed there for many years;

4.  Urges the Nigerian authorities to protect the people, to work towards a peaceful solution, to address the underlying causes of the violence while guaranteeing equal rights for all citizens by implementing the policies necessary for the resolution of the problems of unemployment and poverty;

5.  Stresses the need to guarantee the security and social conditions needed to allow the 42 000 persons displaced since the beginning of the conflict to return home;

6.  Calls on the Nigerian government to carry out an urgent inquiry into these massacres and those who ordered them, and stresses that none of the perpetrators should go unpunished;

7.  Roundly condemns the massive frauds which have occurred in Nigeria and the interference of certain oil companies and Western governments in the economic and political life of the country;

8.  Calls for the right of peoples to self-determination to be implemented in practice in Nigeria, particularly by holding free and democratic elections;

9.  Recalls that this right can only be respected if the country commits itself to social, economic, environmental and democratic development such as to guarantee equal access to resources for all its people, and therefore urges the authorities to work to that end,

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the government of Nigeria, the institutions of the African Union, the Secretary-General and General Assembly of the UNO, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the President of the Pan-African Parliament.