Constance Meju
Public interest advocacy organization (PILEX) has called on oil regulatory agencies to step in and halt the abuse of human and environmental rights being perpetrated by fertilizer company, Indorama, operating in Eleme, Rivers State.
In a press release issued on 12 September 2025, the coordinator of the Peoples Advocate criticized the fertilizer company for failing to protect its contract workers from harm and for committing environmental damage, likening its actions to those of multinational and other oil and gas operators in the Niger Delta.
Speaking on behalf of the center, the coordinator, Comrade Courage Nsirimovu, stated that the organization received an alert from its foreign partner highlighting the labour rights abuses going on in Indorama, which was confirmed on further investigation by Pilex.
Pilex highlighted discriminatory practices against contract staff involving denial of protective protection from exposure to harsh chemicals used in production by the company.
Part of the Pilex release read:
“Sometime towards the end of last year, Pilex Center received a call from our foreign partners about the case of Josiah Okpabio, who used to work at Indorama as a contract staff and was summarily dismissed without due process.
“A further probe into the case revealed that Josiah and other staff of Indorama were exposed to chemicals, formaldehyde, which is used in the preservation of fertilizer uses by Indorama, and ammonia used for the production of urea.
“Picture evidence reveals that the warehouse where they produce the urea/fertilizer is the same place where they have their locker room to change up.”
He further claimed that the contract staff are not given medication, and full-time staff are given such an allowance.
They work without the necessary environmental safety equipment to shield them from the toxic chemicals.
That research has shown that the said chemicals are capable of causing leukemia, cancer, and respiratory diseases.
This practice of Indorama is akin to the gas flaring activities of SPDC and other multinational oil companies in Nigeria, who pollute the environment by flaring gas and oil spills, exposing communities to dermal contact, inhalation, and ingestion of carbon, methane, and sulphur.
Describing what is going on in Indorama as a threat to human rights to life and dignity guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right, Pilex pointed out it is the duty of the Nigerian government to protect and improve and safeguard the environment, including the water, air, land, forest and wild life in the country and these rights have been upheld in several judicial decisions.
“It has been stated in several judicial decisions that we cannot enjoy human rights to life and dignity without a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
“S. 20 of the Nigerian Constitution states that, ‘The state shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air, land, forest and wildlife in Nigeria.
“Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights states that ‘All people have the right to a general satisfactory environment favourable to their development.”
As such, we call on the necessary environmental regulatory agencies of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Rivers State (NESDREA, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NOSDRA, and other companies in view of prohibiting bad environmental practices capable of violating our rights to life and dignity.
Pilex stated, “Such practices are slowly killing our people, and we must ACT NOW!
Comrade Courage Nsirimovu disclosed that the Center has conducted an environmental and public health impact assessment of some communities in the Niger Delta and is preparing a legal suit on gas flaring and environmental pollution in this regard against the companies that claim they have divested and the ones that claim they have acquired the investments.
