By Benprince Ezeh

TROUBLE appears to be brewing in Ogoniland over the federal government’s recent directive to Nigerian National Petroleum to take over the operatorship of OML 11.

Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, the president Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP and members of the MOSOP national executive council, representatives of affiliated organisations and other constitutionally eligible participants, held a meeting in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, March 19, 2019.

The meeting deliberated on wide range of issues affecting Ogoni, including the political developments in the land and the controversial transfer of operatorship of OML 11. At the end of the deliberation, the committee resolved and issued a communiqué.

“No oil extraction can take place in Ogoni without a broad-based discussion and agreement with the people, taking into consideration the long drawn impasse between our community and the oil industry that had occasioned the gross violations of the rights of the Ogoni people.

“The militarisation of the just concluded general elections in Ogoniland and the shooting of unarmed citizens who were out to perform their civic responsibility are totally unacceptable and that this had undermined democracy.

“Any Ogoni son or daughter involved in any clandestine deal with the oil companies that are inimical to the progress and prosperity of Ogoni to desist forthwith as any issue affecting the destiny of Ogoni has to be addressed with openness and transparency,” the communiqué said.

The community said it would welcome investors to investment genuinely in Ogoniland so that the people can have jobs.

It, however, charged the federal government to provide Ogoniland with adequate security infrastructure, equipment and personnel to combat the present state of insecurity so that the youths can stop the cult wars ravaging most communities in the area and leading to the deaths of several youths

The Ogoni community and the oil industry have been in dispute for more than two decades. In the course of this conflict, over two thousand souls were slaughtered in cold blood by the military that was protecting the interest of the oil companies, fourteen communities reduced to rubbles while thousands of Ogoni natives fled into exile.

In any case, the committee welcomed the approval for the nomination of Sunny Zorvah, a former Editor of Ogoni Star and the National Network Newspapers, as the acting publicity secretary of the MOSOP, established the Ogoni Livelihood Opportunities Committee, OLOC and Technical Committee on the Remediation of Ogoniland, TCRO and charged the two bodies to commence work immediately.

The group also sent a condolence message to the immediate family of the late Ferry Gberegbe, the staff and students of the Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, members of MOSOP and the generality of the Ogoni people over the great loss. The late Gberegbe was allegedly killed by security officers on March 10, 2019 during the elections process in Bori, Ogoni.

BE

– Mar. 22, 2019 @ 17:35 GMT |