The marginalised Ogoni people in Rivers State in the Niger Delta have given the Federal Government up till November 30 this year to end environmental terrorism in Ogoniland, in order to have a sense of belonging, with the injustice addressed.
President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Chief Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, made the disclosure yesterday in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, during the 23rd Ogoni Martyrs Day, marking the hanging of a renowned environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other Ogoni activists at Port-Harcourt Prisons, during the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha on November 10, 1995.
Pyagbara stated that with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) declared persona-non-grata in Ogoni, another oil company would only be allowed to resume oil production in Ogoniland, consisting of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas, after a broad-based discussion with Ogoni people.
The Anglo/Dutch oil giant (Shell) was sent packing from Ogoniland in 1993, with MOSOP President disclosing that in the last one year, there had been intense pressure by unnamed oil companies to re-enter Ogoniland, for the ultimate resumption of oil production.
The Ogoni martyrs day was attended by the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Victor Giadom; Nigeriaโs Ambassador to The Netherlands, Oji Ngofa; the pioneer Secretary-General of MOSOP, Prof. Ben Naanen, of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), who chaired the occasion; Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers Southeast); and the Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Dr. Marvin Dekil.
On the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland, MOSOP President said: โIn the last one year, we have seen intense pressure to re-enter Ogoni for the ultimate resumption of oil production in our land. While Shell remains persona-non-grata in Ogoni, we have stated repeatedly that Ogoni oil assets cannot be partitioned and allocated like the partitioning of Africa, to any investor without the Free, Prior and informed Consent of the Ogoni people, as guaranteed under international human rights law, particularly the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples( UNDRIP).โ
