TRACKING____Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has listed four conditions as necessary for resolution of the Ogoni crisis.
Top amongst them is exoneration of the nine Ogoni activists led by writer and poet, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were murdered on November 10, 1995 by the Nigerian state.
This was part of the resolutions of a Central Committee meeting of MOSOP held on February 6, 2020 and presided over by the President of the movement, Fegalo Nsuke, at the MOSOP National Secretariat in Bori-Ogoni, Rivers State.
Members of the MOSOP Central Committee in a group photograph after the meeting.
According to a press statement signed by Asst. General Secretary of MOSOP, Alex Akori, “the Central Committee held that exoneration of the 9 innocent Ogoni civil rights activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were executed by the Nigerian government on November 10, 1995 was fundamentally a major demand and expectation of the Ogoni people because the “9” were innocent and unjustly killed to pave way for the Shell Petroleum Development Company, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc to return to oil drilling activities in Ogoni.”
It also said the Steering Committee resolved that previous oil spills in Ogoni should be properly cleaned up, condemning the present cleanup program which it described as compromised and used to enrich private individuals.
The MOSOP Central Committee further called for an open and honest engagement to discuss the future of the Ogoni people with a view to facilitating the resolution of the protracted Ogoni crisis.
“The Steering Committee further called for an end to the repression and frequent harassment of MOSOP activists by Nigerian security forces.
“The MOSOP Central Committee noted that the call by oppressed Ogoni people for equity and justice for the Ogoni whose resources had been taken away and their environment left in desolation does not amount to any crime in the land”, the statement read.
The MOSOP Central Committee listed these conditions as necessary to peacefully and amicably resolve the over 30-year-old conflict with Shell and the Nigerian government.
MOSOP President Fegalo Nsuke listed the demands in the following order:
- Exoneration of the “Ogoni 9”
- Proper cleanup of Ogoni
- Discussions on the Future of Ogoni in Nigeria
- End to the repression and harassment of Ogoni activists by Nigerian security forces.
