On November 10, 1995, the Nigerian government executed nine activists from the Ogoni people, the majority in the Niger Delta, for opposing the extractions of the oil company Royal Dutch Shell in their lands. Among them was Ken Saro-Wiwa, renowned writer and winner of the Goldman Environmental Award. According to Amnesty International, executions were part of a plan prepared by the Nigerian Armed Forces with the complicity of the Anglo-Holandes company, to silence the protests of the movement for the survival of the Ogoni people.
These murders triggered international protests against Shell and led different countries to temporarily suspend diplomatic relations with Nigeria. The United Nations Environment program documented the devastating effects of spills in Ogonilandia and formulated urgent recommendations for cleaning. Despite this, and almost 30 years after the slaughter of environmentalists, thousands of inhabitants of the region continue to suffer serious health problems due to contaminated water and food intake.
Similarly, numerous Afro -descendant peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean have been denouncing the invasion of their ancestral territories for the extraction of natural resources and acts of violence against leaders and community leaders who defend the right to a healthy environment. Colombia is the country with more murdered environmental defenders, according to the list published by the global Witness organization. Between 2016 and 2024, the UN confirmed the murder of 248 activists fighting against mining and oil exploitation in the country, the majority indigenous and African descent.
The search for wealth and political power led European nations to promote extractivism as a development model during colonial expansion. To do this, the occupation of territories, the looting of raw materials and the enslavement of populations in the global south was legitimized. Today, the extraction of the materials used for digital transformation and energy transition reproduce the patterns already used during the centuries of the colonial exploitation of land dispossession and submission of historically racialized communities. This would not be possible without the support of governments that respond with the use of police and military force to the resistance of people who try to protect their territories.
There is a direct relationship between the earth and the survival of some populations that not only depend on natural resources for their livelihood, but also use ecosystems for cultural and spiritual purposes. These peoples must be consulted and taken into account before any extraction in their environments is carried out. However, the persistent violation of the human rights they suffer reveals that the doctrines of racial superiority, according to which black and indigenous lives must sustain the privileges of Western societies, remain deeply rooted.
Eradicating global dynamics of racism and dehumanization that benefit some groups to the detriment of others is a collective task that requires deep changes in our social, economic and political structures. A sustainable world for everyone will be possible when our societies understand that peace is not only the absence of war, but intrinsicly leads to respect for the rights of peoples who live in harmony with nature.
The upper image, taken on April 19, 2017, shows leaf covered with oil near an illegal refinery in the Niger Delta region, near the city of Warri, Nigeria. Photography: Stefan Heunis / Getty
