Ogoni People Protest Resumption of Oil Exploration in 17 Communities

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Hundreds of Ogoni people in Rivers State, at the weekend, took to the streets of Bori, Khana Local Government Area of the state, to protest against the resumption of oil exploration in some communities in Ogoniland.

The protesters urged President Bola Tinubu to suspend the resumed oil exploration in 17 communities in Tai LGA, where they claimed hundreds of lives were lost several years ago.

The protesters condemned the resumption of oil activities in the affected communities without proper negotiations.

During the peaceful protest, it was observed that the protesters displayed various placards bearing different inscriptions like ‘Free Ogoni Land from Economic Slavery’; ‘No to Oil Resumption ‘, NNPCL bring back our $300 million’; ‘No to Sahara Energy’, and others.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Executive Director of the Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI), Douglas Fabeke, highlighted seven issues of great concern.

Fabeke said: “We have seven key issues we want to address, which concern our observations at the continued struggle of Ogoni communities. We expected that some of these issues we are raising here must have been addressed before now by the federal government.”

According to him, several letters had been written to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other relevant government agencies concerning environmental injustice.

He declared that: “Number one issue is, we are raising concerns regarding illegal oil resumption in the 17 Ogoni communities in Tai Local Government Area that were unjustly destroyed and burnt down, with over 300 people killed from 1993 to 1998.

“We urged the federal government to take immediate action to halt oil resumption in these communities, as the environment and people living in these areas are yet to be restored. Such operations pose a significant health  and safety risk to the community members.”

He disclosed that a large number of people from the affected areas are refugees in different African countries, like the Benin Republic and Cameroon, while those in Nigeria are still homeless.

The group noted that Sahara Energy and some other oil companies have allegedly moved down to the devastated communities to resume exploration without addressing the injustice meted out to the natives.

“It raised the alarm that with the resumption of oil exploration in the place, crisis is imminent, and the federal government should, as a matter of urgency, forestall breakdown of law and order”, the group stated.

Fabeke continued: “I have written to the president to find out if he is aware of the operation that is going on in these areas because, as of now,  many people have been killed and a crisis has taken place. And we don’t want any more crises in Ogoniland.

“So, we are sending this message to the president to give a command that activities in those communities should be stopped, and let’s go into negotiations to see how people living in those places can be restored.

The group also called oonthe federal government to take direct control of OML11 and engage the host communities in meaningful dialogue through an appropriate channel.

“The federal government should avoid political dialogue without result. Ogoni communities are yet to hear from the federal government,” he stated.

The OLI further rejected and declared  Sahara Energy a persona non grata entity in Ogoni, and demanded an immediate stop to any activity in Ogoniland.

“We welcome negotiations with NNPCL and other government agencies. But this particular company, Sahara Energy, is rejected and declared persona non grata. We reject it totally,” the group stressed.

The group hinted that, in the event of the failure of the federal government to address these lingering issues, the Ogoni people would escalate their grievance to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja,  through protest.

Fabeke added, “I want to say it here that I was part of the committee that was set up for this $300 million. I was invited by the NNPCL, and I gave them the list and all the Ogoni communities that were involved.

“But, when it came to the money, up till today, I have not been briefed, neither the organisation (OLI) nor the communities have been briefed about this money.”