The following document was delivered during the media briefing lead by the “Justice for Ogoni Campaigns” on Wednesday, 8 November 2023, in Abuja-Nigeria on the 28th anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight Ogoni Activists.
Gentlemen of the Press,
On behalf of the various civil society organizations, community groups and concerned individuals involved in the “Justice for Ogoni Campaigns”, we welcome you to this media briefing here in Abuja on Wednesday 8 November 2023.
Background
In 1990, the Ogoni took stock of their condition and found that inspite of the stupendous oil and gas wealth in their land and which has fed the Nigerian ruling elite; they were extremely poor, had no social amenities. Unemployment was running higher and worse still, their environment was severely devastated by three decades of reckless oil exploitation, or what the Ogoni love to call “Ecological Warfare” by Shell. In short, the Ogoni were faced with environmental degradation, political marginalization, economic strangulation, slavery and possible extinction. They went further to adopt a bill of right (Ogoni Bill of Rights) which was presented to the Government and people of Nigeria in October 1990. In the bill, the people demanded:
That the Ogoni people be granted POLITICAL AUTONOMY to participate in the affairs of the Republic as a distinct and separate unit by whatever name called, provided that this Autonomy guarantees the following:
(a) Political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people.
(b) The right to the control and use of a fair proportion of OGONI economic resources for Ogoni development.
(c) Adequate and direct representation as of right in all Nigerian national institutions.
(d) The use and development of Ogoni Languages in Ogoni territory.
(g) The right to protect the OGONI environment and ecology from further degradation.
They continued that “We make the above demand in the knowledge that it does not deny any other ethnic group in the Nigerian Federation of their rights and that it can only conduce to peace, justice and fair play and hence stability and progress in the Nigerian nation.
The Nigerian Government response to the nonviolent agitation for human and environmental rights by the Ogonis was the deployment of troops that wreaked havoc in their land. Atrocities committed included the destruction of communities, mass arrests, repression, rape, unjust detention, genocide, kangaroo trials and conviction of several Ogonis by a military tribunal set up by the then military junta, General Sani Abacha. The height of this criminality perpetrated by the Nigerian state was the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogonis in the morning hours of November 10, 1995. This was despite the outcry by the International Community and the fact that the specified 30 days to appeal was yet to expire. 28 years after this sad and ugly incident, Ogoni remains a land waiting for justice.
According to the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, “28 years and the injustice, ecocide and sundry wounds inflicted on Ogoniland continue to fester. Ken Saro-Wiwa spoke against these and was martyred along with other Ogoni leaders by the cannibal system. Now is the time to exonerate the martyrs and commence a Niger Delta-wide environmental restoration. The people have been patient enough.”
It should be recalled that when Nigeria returned to Democracy in 1999, Only June 12 and the Ogoni issue were in the front burner. As a matter of direct state policy, issues concerning June 12 and the Yorubas have been properly settled but sadly, one item on the legitimate demands list of the Ogoni people has not been acceded to.
It will also interest you to note that on the 8th of September 2015, the Nigeria Customs seized a sculpted art Bus presented as a gift to the Ogoni people. This Bus which is a “Living Memorial” to Ken Saro-Wiwa was donated by Platform – friends and colleagues in the United Kingdom.
The memorial is a sculpture of a bus made in remembrance of the struggles of Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni environmental rights activists who were sentenced and killed by a military tribunal in November 1995. The Bus draws attention to the environmental degradation and economic deprivation in which the Ogoni people live, despite being naturally blessed with enormous deposits of crude oil and gas. Ogoni people continue to fight for remediation of their lands and compensation after the devastation of their god given environment and total loss of livelihoods caused by oil multinationals such as sHELL. Remedial processes have commenced but Nigeria government that operates a joint venture with the oil companies is yet to contribute one kobo to the Ogoni clean exercise.
After being on display at various places in the United Kingdom for 9 years, at the request of Ogoni Solidarity Forum-Nigeria and a few other Civil Society Groups, the Bus was shipped from London to Nigeria via Lagos Port. On arrival in Lagos, it was impounded by Custom officials on the 8th of September 2015, who claimed that it had ‘political value’, due to Ken Saro-Wiwa’s words which are inscribed on the side: ‘I accuse the oil companies of practicing Genocide against the Ogoni’. The Bus also displays the name of Ken Saro-Wiwa on a white steel banner, and the names of the other 8 Ogoni men on sculptural barrels, currently stowed inside the Bus for transportation purposes. Every attempt to get the Bus released to the Ogoni people proved abortive. It was believed that the then Customs Boss- (Rtd) Colonel Hammed Ali was directly responsible for keeping the Bus impounded. In 1995, Colonel Ali was the only military member of a puppet Kangaroo Military tribunal that sentenced Ken Saro-Wiwa and others to death.
Similarly, a box of flyers and reports commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa in 2015, sent by friends Platform in the United Kingdom through DHL, was also seized for no justifiable reason by the State Security Service. To date the box has not been returned.
Litigations
On Thursday, 19th November, 2015, Ogoni Solidarity Forum-Nigeria filed a petition against the Nigeria Customs to the National Assembly. After several months of hearing from both parties, The House in Plenary in her recommendation on Tuesday 19th July, 2016, urged the Nigeria Customs to “Release the Bus like object or whatever name it is called to the Ogoni Solidarity Forum-Nigeria, using available administrative means devoid of avoidable difficulties”
Colonel Hammed Ali disobeyed the National Assembly”s directives and recommendations, thereby forcing Ogoni Solidarity Forum-Nigeria and Social Action to file a suit at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi-lagos on the 28th April, 2017. After several sittings and adjournments, on Thursday, 20th April, 2023, the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi-Lagos Nigeria and presided over by Honourable Justice A. Aluko, ruled that the Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Bus that has been in the custody of the Nigeria Customs be released to the Ogoni people with immediate effect. Colonel Ali disobeyed this Court judgement until he was sacked by the President Bola Tinubu Government.
In her solidarity message, The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) together with its members and partners around the world said they “stand in strong solidarity with the Ogoni people and to repeatedly stress that there should be NO MORE KILLINGS of Indigenous leaders in Ogoni land, NOT ONE MORE INCH OF THEIR LAND must be exploited and NO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION will pass without a united resistance from Indigenous Peoples around the world.”
On this particular anniversary, we have a strong hope that the legitimate demands of the oppressed, suppressed, marginalized and economically disempowered Ogoni people will be acceded to, considering the fact that President Bola Tinubu was part of the struggle and even got injured on his head while protesting for the rights of Ogoni people years back.
Our Prayers
That the President Exonerates Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists and orders immediate review of the judgment that was given by the Kangaroo Military Tribunal in 1995 that sentenced them to death;
That the Military Officers like Dauda Musa Komu, Paul Okontimo, Obi Umahi, etc. who committed genocide in Ogoni land during the military occupation of their territory be immediately arrested and prosecuted. Adequate compensation be paid to families of the over 2,000 Ogoni men, women and children who were murdered in cold blood by the rampaging soldiers during that unlawful military occupation of Ogoni;
That the President urgently and passionately looks into the legitimate demands of Ogoni people as enshrined in the Ogoni Bill of Rights with a view to addressing them. This includes the issue of political marginalization. It will interest Mr. President that no Ogoni has been Governor, Deputy Governor, Speaker or Chief Judge since the creation of Rivers State on 27 May 1967;
That Mr. President considers full implementation of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni by directing Shell to immediately decommission in line with recommendations of UNEP. Mr. President should also approve adequate compensation to Ogoni farmers and fishermen who lost their means of livelihoods;
Mr. President should direct immediate release of the confiscated non-motorised Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Bus which is being held by the Nigerian Customs in spite of recommendations of the National Assembly on Tuesday 19th July, 2016 and the favorable ruling of a Court of Competent Jurisdiction since 20th April, 2023;
On the ongoing environmental remediation in Ogoni, you cannot run the tap and mop your floor the same time. The Government should concentrate on the clean up of Ogoni and other Niger Delta States and stop new oil exploration in the region. Niger Delta has contributed a lot to the development of Nigeria, it is time Nigeria should take care of Niger Delta people and the environment.
It is on record that the Government of Nigeria is yet to release one kobo in contribution to the Ogoni clean up. Government should pay up and immediately release money to the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to commence environmental audit of other polluted sites in Niger Delta.
Thank you.
Reference:
Comrade AkpoBari Celestine, Team Leader, Peoples Advancement Centre (PAC) 08032733965
Rev. Probel Williams, Leader, Ogoni Peoples Assembly, 08034681006
