Amnesty International said on Monday that the Nigerian government and Shell petroleum development company have done almost nothing   in  implementing the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) report on oil pollution in the Niger Delta area, three years after a landmark UN report calling for a $1 billion dollar clean-up.

Environmental destruction and pollution in Ogoniland has for many come to symbolise the tragedy of Nigeria’s vast oil wealth which has hampered the occupation of the people of Niger Delta.

Decades of crude production filled the pockets of powerful government officials and generated huge profits for oil majors like Shell, while corruption and spills left the people with nothing but land too polluted for farming or fishing.

 “Three years and still counting the government and Shell have done little or nothing in  implementing the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) report on oil pollution in the Niger Delta area” said Godwin Ojo of Friends of the Earth Nigeria, which partnered with Amnesty and other group in producing a report titled “Shell: No Progress”.

Audrey Gaughran who represented Amnesty International said.“No matter how much evidence emerges of Shell’s bad practice, Shell has so far escaped the necessity to clean up the damage it has caused,”

In April of 2013, Shell staff returned to Ogoniland for the first time in two decades to study how their decaying assets in the region can be withdrawn from service.

The company described the move as “a key step” in complying with the UNEP report.