Condemns human rights violations and Calls for the creation of a Bori state as first step to enforce the right to self determination for the Ogoni people.
As we mark the world’s Environment Day today June 5, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has called for urgent action to save the Ogoni people and its environment.
In a statement signed by the chairman of the MOSOP Kingdom Forum, Frank Jonah, and made available to Ogoninews,com, MOSOP expressed fears that the biggest threat facing the Ogoni people is the failure of government and Shell to clean the Ogoni environment which had been devastated by long years of oil mining activities of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited.
The MOSOP statement also noted Nigeria’s non-commitment to human rights as a major set-back to a healthy environment. MOSOP urged Nigeria to improve its human rights records and allow people to live, work and enjoy the peace that comes with fundamental freedom and respect for humanity and the environment.
MOSOP called for the creation of a Bori state as a first step to enforce the rights of the Ogoni people to self determination urging the Nigerian government work towards an end to rights violations which is currently pervasive in the country.
While calling on the Ogoni people to stand up for their rights and peacefully protest violations, MOSOP condemned the Rivers State government for forcefully taking over about 20,000 hectares of land used by subsistence farmers in Ogoni. “MOSOP view the Rivers State government land grab policy as a direct assault on the rights of the Ogoni people to survive” the statement said.
Seizing land from subsistence farmers in a environment where land for farming is in high demand owing to massive oil pollution is nothing short of forcing hunger on the people.
MOSOP therefore called on the government to discontinue the forceful land grab policy and compensate the people for the negative impact the land grab has had on them.
The MOSOP statement noted that Nigeria is not a free country. “Until Nigeria commits itself to enforce fundamental freedom for its citizens, its claim to being a free society will continue to be cosmetic and deceptive” the MOSOP statement said.
Nigeria must take steps to stop impunity and courageously enforce respect for human rights and fundamental freedom, this will be a necessary prerequisite to an environment that supports political, economic and social transformation.
Source: OgoniNews
