wfn.org | Mission boards urge worldwide boycott of Nigerian oil

[DISCNEWS.parti@ecunet.org]

November 27, 1996
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Email: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
on the web: http://www.disciples.org

96b-97

     GREEN LAKE, Wis. (DNS)  -- The Common Global Ministries
Board of two major Protestant churches is calling for a
worldwide boycott of Nigerian oil to protest that country's
military dictatorship.

     The board, the first North American church agency to
endorse a boycott against Nigerian oil, guides the common
work of the Division of Overseas Ministries of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church Board for
World Ministries of the United Church of Christ.

     Approved at the board's semi-annual meeting Nov. 18-20,
the resolution asks major oil companies not to ship oil from
Nigeria. It stops short of calling for a consumer boycott at
the gas pumps.  But the governing body does plan to urge
members of the two denominations, as well as governments,
other churches, ecumenical groups and advocacy
organizations, to write to major oil companies to request
that they not purchase oil from Nigeria.

     The action was taken to protest the military
dictatorship of Nigerian strongman General Sani Abacha, who,
in l993, arrested the winner of a democratically held
election for president.  The church board charges that
Abacha has consistently violated Nigerians' human rights and
jailed or killed opponents.

     The Nigerian military regime "must move without further
delay to relinquish its undemocratic hold on power and allow
the country to return to civilian rule," said the Rev. Dan
Hoffman, the Indianapolis-based mission executive for the
Africa region for the two churches.  A promise by the regime
that democracy will be restored by 1998 "is not acceptable
nor deemed credible," Hoffman said.

     The boycott targets oil because petroleum products
account for more than 90 percent of Nigeria's exports and 80
percent of its public revenues.  Royal Dutch Shell is the
leading exporter.  Also operating in the country are such
American companies as Ashland, Chevron, Mobil, Phillips, Sun
and Texaco.

                         - more -add 1-1-1/boycott
Disciples News Service 
96b-97

     Hoffman says a byproduct of the military's dependence
on oil is a lax standard of environmental control.  Oil
companies, he says, "have been responsible for widespread
pollution that has negatively affected agriculture,
destroyed plant life and poisoned the air and water." 
According to the Sierra Club, the Ogoniland region of
Nigeria -- controlled by Shell -- has been particularly hard
hit.

     Other church recommendations to put pressure on
Nigeria's rulers include a freeze on their bank accounts and
assets, a travel ban, a sports boycott of the country and
the suspension of all but humanitarian aid.

     The Common Global Ministries Board is part of a
relationship unique in American Protestantism, as the two
mission agencies share staff, budget and program. This
includes cooperative work with partner churches in 90
countries in medical, agricultural, social, educational and
church programs, and involves more than 175 missionaries in
about 40 countries.  

     The Disciples, with general offices in Indianapolis,
have nearly 1 million members and more than 3,900 local
churches in the United States and Canada.  The UCC, with
national offices in Cleveland, has 1.5 million members in
more than 6,100 local churches in the United States and
Puerto Rico.  The two denominations have been in "full
communion" as ecumenical partners since 1989.

                          - 30 -

DISCNEWS - inbox for Disciples News Service, Office of Communication,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), PO Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206,
tele. (317) 635-3100, (DISCNEWS.part@ecunet.org) Wilma Shuffitt, News and
Information Assistant; (CLIFF WILLIS.part@ecunet.org) Cliff Willis, Director
of News and Information; (CURT MILLER.part@ecunet.org) Executive Director