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April 08-09, 2019 | Zurich, Switzerland
2nd International Conference on
Green Energy & Technology
Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation | Volume 3 ISSN: 2529-8046
The use of Imprisonment terms as a tool to Sanction Oil and Gas Pollution offence
in Nigeria: A determination of the effectiveness of this tool in the USA
Chukwuemeka Chuks-Ezike
Robert Gordon University, UK
Scholars have argued that Criminal law can be
used as a major tool to prevent harm. In China, for
example, environmental protection laws provide
that certain behaviour such as marine pollution
resulting in substantial property loss, injury or
death may be dealt with under the criminal law.
Hence, pollution crimes (which can cause severe
environmental/health harm or even harm to life)
can be dealt with using Criminal law.
The exploration and production of oil and gas
resources have caused great pollution, and in
turn, great environmental and health harm to
the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The pollution is
reported to have been mostly caused by oil and
gas multinationals operating in the region. Indeed,
the extensive nature of the Nigerian oil and gas
pollution (together with the enabling statutes that
make the offences in its category criminal) makes it
the most significant environmental crime in Nigeria.
Interestingly, while Nigeria might have enacted
several Environmental-Criminal statutory provisions
to deal with these offences, it seems to have
continued un-deterred. This is because most of
the sanctioning statutory provisions rather project
the use of criminal fines to sanction the offence.
Moreover, the nature of criminal fines provided
under these enabling statutory provisions is often
paltry sums that could be easily paid up by the oil
multinationals. Even more, some of the statutory
provisions that might have created an option of
tougher penalties such as imprisonment terms
(even up to life imprisonment) might have not been
effectively utilised. This is because Nigeria seems
to still be lacking in the criminal prosecution of
environmental offences in the oil and gas industry.
This article argues that the use of imprisonment
terms constitutes sufficient punishment and an
effective means to deterrence. To effectively prove
this, the article shall review the usage of this tool in
the United States of America (USA), the toughness
of punishment imposed under the sentencing and
the effectiveness of this tool in deterring oil and
gas offence in the USA. Hence, the article suggests
a wider use of imprisonment terms on offending
corporate officers to prevent environmental harm.
e:
Environ Risk Assess Remediat, Volume 3
DOI: 10.4066/2529-8046-C1-003