A coalition of environmental activists and groups have faulted purported plans by the Federal Government and some International Oil Companies (IOCs), especially the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland when the pollution issues in the area caused by decades of exploration activities have not been resolved.
The groups recalled that in 1993, Shell was evicted from Ogoniland where it had extracted crude oil non-stop for decades with unbelievable ecological consequences, after the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) mobilized the Ogoni and called on the Nigerian government to clean up the Ogoni environment and restore the livelihoods of the indigenous Niger Delta people through the Ogoni Bill of Rights in 1990.
They said MOSOP called global attention to the poverty, neglect and environmental destruction decades of oil exploitation bequeathed the Ogoni people and demanded fairer benefits to the Ogoni people from oil wealth, as well as remediation and compensation for the ecological damage caused by the activities of oil companies.
Lamenting the Ogoni situation over three decades ago, they said the government responded to the genuine concern of the Ogoni people with widespread militarization of Ogoniland and the Niger Delta region, mass killings, arson and execution of environmental rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders in 1995 after the recommendations of a stage-managed trial.
In a communiqué titled: Ogoni Oil in the Eye of the Storm, the groups noted: “As Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria, we have keenly observed the scheming and unhindered contestations over the resumption of extraction of oil in the disputed oilfields of Ogoniland.
“Over the last decade, we have seen schemings by Shell and the Nigeria government-including a resort to court processes-to resume drilling for crude oil with its attendant environmental, social and security recklessness in Ogoniland.”
They, therefore, demanded that the Federal Government and OICs should stop to any planned attempt to resume oil activities in Ogoniland and rather concentrate on redeeming the ecological disaster in the area, decommissioning aged oil infrastructure, replacing the lost livelihoods of the people and securing justice for the countless cases of Ogoni people waiting for closure.
The document was endorsed by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF); We the People; Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA); African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD); Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
Other members of the coalition are Policy Alert; Kabetkeche Women Development and Resource Centre; Peoples Advancement Centre; Peace Point Development Foundation; Nkori Rural Women Development Initiative and Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI).
The groups further stated that latest contestation followed the visit of some Ogoni to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ostensibly with the mandate of the Ogoni people to negotiate the resumption of oil exploration in the area.
“It is regrettable that 33 years after the Ogoni made their demands in the Ogoni Bill of Rights for which they were so brutally suppressed, none of their concerns and prayers have been conclusively addressed. It is disappointing and demonstrates insensitivity for the government to imagine that those concerns have simply withered away with time.
“Those who remain connected to the communities know for a fact that the Ogoni people remain resolute in their resistance to any renewed hydrocarbon extraction in their domains. It is particularly disappointing that in the fight over OML 11 and the resumption of oil extraction in Ogoniland, there has been no mention or discussion of getting the indigenous Ogoni people free, prior and informed permission.
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“It is unclear whether any consultations have taken place with the impacted communities, or whether their rights to a safe environment and interests have been considered. We believe that these recent attempts are callous, ill-advised and capable of inciting suspicion and conflict in an already tense and conflict-prone area.
“It is also gravely disconcerting that in the ongoing frenzy, the concerns raised by the Ogoni people 33 years ago, which led to the termination of oil extraction, have not been addressed. Similarly, there has been no attempt to secure justice for the countless families that lost lives, livelihoods, and properties in what is still the worst attack on a peaceful indigenous population by Nigerian security forces,” the statement reads.
The activists also decried that fact that persons who committed genocide and abuses against unarmed populations, and boasted publicly about their dastardly acts, have still not been brought to justice, adding that for the majority of Ogoni people, the events of the 1990s remain an open and sour wound, begging for the healing of truth and justice.
“Critical to this is the fact that the moves to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland, is happening against the backdrop of the contentious clean up of impacted sites in Ogoni. The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) was set up in 2012 to coordinate and implement the recommendations of the UNEP report on oil contamination in Ogoniland and cleanup activities.
“The cleanup exercise has been marred by irregularities and in many instances low quality of job and contract racketeering, which have created peculiar difficulties in the process. It is worrisome why the government will decide to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland when the pollution of the last decades have not been cleaned up, while the government and IOCs have not fully complied with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recommendations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it should be noted that the entire Niger Delta has become the epicentre for hydrocarbon pollution for immediate remediation. The environmental assessment of UNEP report on Ogoniland and the May 2023 Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) report demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt the scale of destruction and the true costs of oil and gas extraction in the region,” the groups added.
