The Niger Delta youths movement has dragged six oil companies and the federal government, before a Federal High Court in Abuja. President of the Niger Delta Youths Movements, Mr. Onengiye Elekima, in his statement of claim, is suing...[the defendants] for allegedly flaring gas and pumping noxious chemical substances into the atmosphere in the Niger Delta region for about fifty years in course of their oil production…. Elekina, said that the…substances [released during gas flaring] are harmful to human beings... The plaintiffs are seeking for a declaration that the continued flaring of gas and the release...of poisonous and noxious chemical and substances by the defendants is unlawful and constitutes a violation of the plaintiffs right to life... [refers to Shell, Total FinaElf (now Total), ExxonMobil, Chevron Texaco (now Chevron), Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) (joint venture Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, ENI, ConocoPhillips), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation]