South South Group, under the aegis of Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has warned against the resumption of oil mining Activities in Ogoniland.
The group issued the warning in a press release signed by Media Assistant to the Chairman, MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators Forum, Letom Sinen made available to EAGLE REPORTERS.
The group decried land degradation in Niger Delta region and frown at the failure of the concerned authorities to address the grievance of the Ogoni people which in recent time led to the exit of Shell from the area.
The MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators has called on the government to first address the fundamental demands of the Ogoni people including the right to recognition and self determination through the creation of a Bori state, the clean-up of Ogoniland and the payment of compensation to Ogoni people whose means of livelihood have been seriously damaged by years of environmental degradation by Shell’s presence in the area.
The Leader of the group,Frank Jonah urged the Nigerian government to be fair in its handling of the
Ogoni problem.
“Nigeria must show her commitment to justice and fairness especially in the Ogoni issue. We have lost some of our best men in the November 10, 1995 hangings, we have been extensively abused under the various Nigerian military regimes, our environment has been completely destroyed, we have no electricity, water and many more basic amenities despite being a major contributor to the Nigerian economy and so the government will be most insensitive to ignore all these issues and to be talking about any form of resuming oil activities in Ogoni”
The MOSOP Coordinators chairman urged the government to show some sense of humanity by addressing the issues of self determination for the Ogoni people before contemplating any form of negotiations regarding the Ogoni oil. He noted that failing to address these issues will mean the government has chosen to kill and repress the people to forcefully exploit their oil resources as there must be very strong resistance against such moves.
Source: Eagle Report
