Nigeria, Sept. 8 -- The Nigerian government has yet to respond to a damning United Nations report, accusing multinational oil companies operating in the country of treating the Niger Delta as "an experiment for divestment without clean-up."

Over 20 civil society groups, including Amnesty International and Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, say the federal government's silence amounts to a betrayal of millions of Niger Deltans enduring decades of environmental devastation.

This newspaper last month reported that some experts at the United Nations say the recent sale of oil assets by International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria "lacked transparency," raising concerns about human rights impacts and hindering efforts to clea...