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{{Short description|Nigerian indigenous organization}}
{{multiple issues|
{{context|date=December 2014}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{update|date=December 2014}} {{Update|date=December 2014}}
{{POV|date=December 2014}}
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{{Under Construction}}



{{Infobox organization {{Infobox organization
| abovestyle = | abovestyle =
| headerstyle = | headerstyle =
| above = | above =
| name = | name = Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
| image =
| native_name = '''Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People'''
| image = | image_size =
| image_size = | alt =
| alt = | caption =
| caption = | map =
|awards = ]
| map =
| map_size = | map_size =
| map_alt = | map_alt =
| map_caption = | map_caption =
| map2 = | map2 =
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| map2_alt = | map2_alt =
| map2_caption = | map2_caption =
| abbreviation = | abbreviation = MOSOP
| motto = Freedom, Peace and Justice
| predecessor = | predecessor =
| merged = | merged =
| successor = | successor =
| formation = <!-- e.g. use {{start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} --> 1990 | formation = 1990
| founders = ] | founders = ]
| extinction = <!-- e.g. use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | extinction =
| merger = | merger =
| type = ] | type = ]
| tax_id = <!-- or | vat_id = (for non-profit org) --> | tax_id = <!-- or | vat_id = (for non-profit org) -->
| registration_id = <!-- for non-profit org --> | registration_id =
| status = | status =
| purpose = ] of the ] | purpose = ] of the ]
| headquarters = ], ], ], Nigeria | headquarters = ], ], ], Nigeria
| location = | location =
| coords = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LON|display=inline,title}} --> | coords = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LON|display=inline,title}} -->
| region = ] | region = ]
| services = | services =
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}} }}
| language = | language =
| owner = <!-- or | owners = --> | owner = <!-- or | owners = -->
| sec_gen = | sec_gen =
| leader_title = President | leader_title = President
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| slogan = | slogan =
| mission = | mission =
| website = {{url|mosop.org}} | website = {{URL|mosop.org}}
| remarks = | remarks =
| formerly = | formerly =
| footnotes = | footnotes =
}} }}
The '''Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People''' ('''MOSOP)''', is a ] representing the indigenous ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unpo.org/members/7901 |title=Ogoni |date=March 25, 2008 |website=unpo.org |publisher=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |access-date=December 13, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) |url=https://www.escr-net.org/member/movement-survival-ogoni-people-mosop |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=ESCR-Net |language=en}}</ref> of ], Nigeria. The Ogoni contend that ], along with other petroleum multinationals and the ], have ], polluted their rivers, and ] in return for enormous oil revenues extracted from their lands.<ref name="HRW Nigeria95" /><ref name="Osaghae 1995">{{Cite journal |last=Osaghae |first=Eghosa E. |date=1995 |title=The Ogoni Uprising: Oil Politics, Minority Agitation and the Future of the Nigerian State |journal=African Affairs |volume=94 |issue=376 |pages=325–344 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098833 |jstor=723402 |issn=0001-9909|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Agbonifo |first=John |title=Oil, Insecurity, and Subversive Patriots in the Niger Delta: The Ogoni as Agent of Revolutionary Change |date=2009 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45194563 |journal=Journal of Third World Studies |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=71–106 |jstor=45194563 |issn=8755-3449}}</ref>
'''The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People''', also known as '''(MOSOP)''', is a mass‐based ] organization of the indigenous ] <ref>{{cite web |url=http://unpo.org/members/7901 |title=Ogoni |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date=March 25, 2008 |website=unpo.org |publisher=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |accessdate=December 13, 2014}}</ref> of Central ]. MOSOP is the umbrella organization of currently 11 member groups representing more than 700,000 indigenous Ogoni <ref name="Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 24th Session of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations">{{cite web |url=http://unpo.org/content/view/5061/236/ | title=Ogoni: Oral Intervention on the Human Rights Situation of States and Territories threatened with Ex |website=unpo.org |publisher=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |accessdate=December 19, 2014}}</ref> in campaigning for social, economic and ] in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. MOSOP's mandated use of ] methods to promote democratic principles assist Ogoni people pursue rights of ] in ], ] and practices for Ogoni people.<ref name="MSOP_About">{{cite web|url=http://www.mosop.org/about_us.html|title=About Us - Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)|accessdate=2009-05-27}}</ref>


MOSOP is an umbrella organization representing about 700,000 Ogoni in a ] campaign for ] in the ].<ref name="Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 24th Session of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations">{{cite web |url=http://unpo.org/content/view/5061/236/ | title=Ogoni: Oral Intervention on the Human Rights Situation of States and Territories threatened with Ex |website=unpo.org |publisher=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |access-date=December 19, 2014}}</ref><ref name="MSOP_About">{{cite web|url=http://www.mosop.org/about_us.html|title=About Us – Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)|access-date=2009-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425003431/http://www.mosop.org/about_us.html|archive-date=April 25, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Peaceful demonstrations led by MOSOP and other indigenous groups in the region have been brutally suppressed by the ].<ref name="All for Shell" /><ref name="HRW Reports526" /> Thousands of Ogoni were killed, raped, beaten, detained, or exiled.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Boele |first1=Richard |last2=Fabig |first2=Heike |last3=Wheeler |first3=David |date=2001 |title=Shell, Nigeria and the Ogoni. A study in unsustainable development: I. The story of Shell, Nigeria and the Ogoni people - – environment, economy, relationships: conflict and prospects for resolution 1: Shell, Nigeria and the Ogoni I |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sd.161 |journal=Sustainable Development |language=en |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=74–86 |doi=10.1002/sd.161}}</ref> The Ogoni's challenge to state power was finally put down through the ], including spokesman and founder ], in November 1995.<ref name=":1" />
Founded in 1990 by ], Ogani Chiefs of MOSOP initiated efforts with the .<ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights">{{cite web |url=http://www.ogoniyouthnetwork.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Ogoni-Bill-of-Rights.pdf| title= Ogoni Bill of Rights|website=ogoniyouthnetwork.org|publisher=Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People |accessdate=December 13, 2014}}</ref> Saro-Wiwa led its submission to the government of the ] and the ] in Geneva.


Oil was discovered in the ] in 1957. MOSOP was founded in 1990 by Ken Saro-Wiwa and Ogoni chiefs when they presented the Ogoni Bill of Rights to the Federal government of Nigeria and to the ] in Geneva.<ref name="Osaghae 1995" /><ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights">{{cite web |title=Ogoni Bill of Rights |url=http://www.ogoniyouthnetwork.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Ogoni-Bill-of-Rights.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013164743/http://www.ogoniyouthnetwork.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Ogoni-Bill-of-Rights.pdf |archive-date=2017-10-13 |access-date=December 13, 2014 |website=ogoniyouthnetwork.org |publisher=Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Obi |first1=C. I. |last2=Development |first2=UN Research Institute for Social |date=2005 |title=Environmental movements in sub-Saharan Africa |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/543873 |language=en}}</ref>


The Ogoni uprising under the leadership of MOSOP was an early and non-violent phase of the ].
==Backround==
{{expand section|date=December 2014}}


In 1994, MOSOP, along with founder Ken Saro-Wiwa, received the ] for their exemplary courage in striving non-violently for the civil, economic and environmental rights of their people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/laureates/ken-saro-wiwa-movement-for-the-survival-of-the-ogoni-people/|title=Ken Saro-Wiwa / Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People|website=The Right Livelihood Award|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-08}}</ref>
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People began as a struggle against the ] of ] by ], a subsidiary of ], when in 1957 its Nigerian operations, ], known as Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), struck oil in the ].


==Background==
The problems facing the Ogoni people find their origins in the ]:<ref name=":0" /> the political borders of Nigeria are an extremely artificial creation of British colonialism, with the result that nearly 300 ethnic groups are arbitrarily consolidated into a single nation-state.<ref name="Pipe Dreams" /> The Ogoni people are an ethnic ] with only 500,000 people in a country of more than two hundred million. Nigerian politics are dominated by the ], ], and ] ethnic majorities.<ref name="Pipe Dreams" /> Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960, and has since been mostly ruled by unelected officials from these ethnic majorities. The Ogoni lack political power and constitutional protections to control their land or wealth taken from it.<ref name="Pipe Dreams" /><ref name=":0" /> Other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta are also ethnic minorities.<ref name=":0" />


=== Unequal distribution of oil benefits ===
=== Environmental Impact on the Niger River Delta Region ===
Nigeria's national government is completely dependent on oil exports, with oil accounting for 80% of government revenue.<ref name="Nigerian Economy">{{cite web |title=Nigerian Economy |url=http://nigerianembassy.nu/economy/ |access-date=December 19, 2014 |publisher=Embassy of Nigeria, Stockholm Sweden}}</ref> Shell is the largest stakeholder, owning 47% of the national industry.<ref name="Pipe Dreams" /> The World Bank estimates that oil benefits accrue to only 1% of the general population.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kretzmann |first1=Stephen |last2=Noouruddin |first2=Irfan |title=Drilling into Debt – An Investigation into the Relationship Between Debt and Oil |url=http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2011/01/DrillingIntoDebt.pdf |access-date=December 22, 2014 |website=priceforoil.org |publisher=Oil Change International |ref=Drilling Into Debt}}</ref> A 1995 ] interview with attorney Uche Onyeagocha documented that minority groups whose land is the source of over 90% of Nigeria's oil opposed the prevailing formula for allocating oil revenues, under which the federal, state, and local governments had almost complete discretion over the distribution of oil proceeds.<ref name="HRW Nigeria95" />


By 1995, Ogoniland hosted six oil fields, two oil refineries, and fertilizer and petrochemical plants. MOSOP estimated that $30 billion worth of oil had been extracted from their land within 30 years of discovered reserves, and they had received no benefits but borne the ecological damages of oil production including numerous spills; constant flaring of natural gas; and dumping of toxic waste.<ref name="Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 24th Session of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations" /><ref name=":0" />
Communities of the ] that had sustained their economy on farming and fishing saw that the takeover of their land by multinational oil companies was causing devastating ]. Saro-Wiwa called it an ecological war.<ref name="Trial Speech of Ken Saro-Wiwa">{{cite wikisource |url=https://en.wikisource.org/Trial_Speech_of_Ken_Saro-Wiwa |title=Trial Speech of Ken Saro-Wiwa |date=November 10, 1995 |accessdate=19 December 2014}}</ref>
<blockquote>
"The Ogoni country has been completely destroyed by the search for oil....Oil blowouts, spillages, oil slicks, and general pollution accompany the search for oil....Oil companies have flared gas in Nigeria for the past thirty three years causing acid rain....What used to be the bread basket of the delta has now become totally infertile. All one sees and feels around is death. Environmental degradation has been a lethal weapon in the war against the indigenous Ogoni people" <ref name="Pipe Dreams">{{cite web |url=http://english.wisc.edu/rdnixon/files/pipe_dreams.pdf |title=Pipe Dreams: Ken Saro-Wiwa, Environmental Justice, and Micro-Minority Rights |last=Nixon |first=Rob |website=english.widc.edu |date=January 1996 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Madison |accessdate=19 December 2014}}</ref>


==== Corruption ====
Ken Saro-Wiwa, Interview on Channel 4 (U.K.) on 15 November 1995
Former World Bank Vice-President for Africa, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, estimated that $400 billion of Nigeria's oil revenue was stolen or misspent from 1960 to 1999.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Soniyi |first1=Tobi |title=Nigeria: U.S.$400 Billion of Oil Revenue Stolen, Says Ezekwesili |publisher=allafrica.com |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201208290453.html |access-date=December 22, 2014}}</ref> A Nigerian anti-corruption agency estimated that around 70% of oil revenues were wasted or lost to corruption. ] Task Force on Oil Revenue found that approximately $29 billion in oil and gas revenues were lost over a period of ten years from cut price deals struck between multinational oil companies and government officials. The report alleges international oil traders sometimes buy crude without any formal contracts, and the state oil firm had short-changed the Nigerian treasury by selling crude oil and gas to itself below market rates.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 24, 2012 |title=Exclusive: Nigeria loses billions in cut price oil deals – report |publisher=Reuters |url=http://reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-oil-idUSBRE89N0VV20121024 |url-status=live |access-date=December 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222041901/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/us-nigeria-oil-idUSBRE89N0VV20121024 |archive-date=December 22, 2014}}</ref>
</blockquote>


=== Environmental issues in the Niger Delta ===
Bronwen Manby, then researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, documented in July 1997 that "according to the official estimates of the ] (NNPC), based on the quantities reported by the operating companies, approximately 2,300 cubic meters of oil are spilled in 300 separate incidents annually. It can be safely assumed that, due to under-reporting, the real figure is substantially higher: conservative estimates place it at up to ten times higher. Statistics from the indicate that between 1976 and 1996 a total of 4,835 incidents resulted in the spillage of at least 2,446,322 barrels (102.7 million U.S. gallons), of which an estimated 1,896,930 barrels (79.7 million U.S. gallons; 77 percent) were lost to the environment. Another calculation, based on oil industry sources, estimates that more than 1.07 million barrels (45 million U.S. gallons) of oil were spilled in Nigeria from 1960 to 1997. Nigeria’s largest spill was an offshore well ] in January 1980, when at least 200,000 barrels of oil (8.4 million U.S. gallons), according to oil industry sources, spewed into the Atlantic Ocean from a Texaco facility and destroyed 340 hectares of mangroves. DPR estimates were that more than 400,000 barrels (16.8 million U.S. gallons) were spilled in this incident." <ref name="HRW Reports">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/nigeria/Nigew991-05.htm#P526_156650 |title=The Price of Oil |last=Manby |first=Bronwen |date=January 1999 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |accessdate=16 December 2014}}</ref>
{{Main|Environmental issues in the Niger Delta}}


Beginning in the late 1950s, multinational oil companies began taking over land belonging to Indigenous farming and fishing communities in the Niger Delta, resulting in environmental devastation. MOSOP spokesman ] called it an 'ecological war':<ref name="Trial Speech of Ken Saro-Wiwa">{{cite wikisource |title=Trial Speech of Ken Saro-Wiwa |date=November 10, 1995}}</ref>
<blockquote> <blockquote>
The Ogoni country has been completely destroyed.... Oil blowouts, spillages, oil slicks, and general pollution accompany the search for oil.... Oil companies have flared gas in Nigeria for the past thirty three years causing acid rain.... What used to be the bread basket of the delta has now become totally infertile. All one sees and feels around is death. ] has been a lethal weapon in the war against the indigenous Ogoni people.<ref name="Pipe Dreams">{{cite web |url=http://english.wisc.edu/rdnixon/files/pipe_dreams.pdf |title=Pipe Dreams: Ken Saro-Wiwa, Environmental Justice, and Micro-Minority Rights |last=Nixon |first=Rob |website=english.widc.edu |date=January 1996 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Madison |access-date=December 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220005732/http://english.wisc.edu/rdnixon/files/pipe_dreams.pdf |archive-date=December 20, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref></blockquote>
"Ogoni has suffered and continues to suffer the degrading effects of oil exploration and exploitation: lands, streams and creeks are totally and continually polluted; the atmosphere is for ever charged with hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; many villages experience the infernal quaking of the wrath of gas flares which have been burning 24 hours a day for 33 years; acid rain, oil spillages and blowouts are common. The result of such unchecked environmental pollution and degradation are that (i) The Ogoni can no longer farm successfully. Once the food basket of the eastern Niger Delta, the Ogoni now buy food (when they can afford it); (ii) Fish, once a common source of protein, is now rare. Owing to the constant and continual pollution of our streams and creeks, fish can only be caught in deeper and offshore waters for which the Ogoni are not equipped. (iii) All wildlife is dead. (iv) The ecology is changing fast. The mangrove tree, the aerial roots of which normally provide a natural and welcome habitat for many a sea food – crabs, periwinkles, mudskippers, cockles, mussels, shrimps and all – is now being gradually replaced by unknown and otherwise useless plams. (v) The health hazards generated by an atmosphere charged with hydrocarbon vapour, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are innumerable." <ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights"></ref>


Both ] and ] have operated oil wells in Ogoniland.<ref name="Osaghae 1995" />
Dr. G.B. Leton, President of MOSOP, addendum statement in the Ogoni Bill of Rights</blockquote>


==== Oil spills ====
] forest is particularly vulnerable to oil spills, because the soil soaks up the oil like a sponge and re-releases it every rainy season.<ref name="HRW Reports"></ref>


Statistics from the ] (DPR) indicate that between 1976 and 1996 a total of 4,835 incidents resulted in the spillage of at over 2.4 million barrels of oil (102.7 million U.S. gallons), of which an estimated 1.9 million barrels (79.7 million U.S. gallons; 77 percent) were lost to the environment. Nigeria's largest spill was an offshore ] in January 1980, when at least 200,000 barrels of oil (8.4 million U.S. gallons), according to oil industry sources, spewed into the Atlantic Ocean from a Texaco facility and destroyed {{Convert|340|hectare|acre}} of mangroves. ] forest is particularly vulnerable to oil spills, because the soil soaks up the oil like a sponge and re-releases it every rainy season.<ref name="HRW Reports526" /> DPR estimated that more than 400,000 barrels (16.8 million U.S. gallons) were actually spilled in this incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dpr.gov.ng |title = Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC)}}</ref><ref name="HRW Reports526">{{cite web |last=Manby |first=Bronwen |date=January 1999 |title=The Price of Oil |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/nigeria/Nigew991-05.htm#P526_156650 |access-date=December 16, 2014 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> Water contamination of local water supply resulted in fish kills and ruinous effects on farmland.<ref name="HRW Nigeria95">{{cite web |date=July 1995 |title=Nigeria, The Ogoni Crisis, Vol. 7, No. 5 |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1995/Nigeria.htm |access-date=December 15, 2014 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref>
Water contamination of local water supply resulted in fish kills and ruinous effects on farmland.<ref name="HRW Reports">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1995/Nigeria.htm |title=Nigeria, The Ogoni Crisis, Vol.7, No.5 |date=July 1995 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |accessdate=15 December 2014}}</ref>


==== Gas flaring ====
Natural ] associated with ] destroyed the ] by releasing the ] toxins ] and ] into the atmosphere.
Nigeria flares more ] associated with ] than any other country, with estimates about 70% is wasted by flaring.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robin Hinsch: WAHALA {{!}} International Photography Magazine |date=November 8, 2019 |url=http://internationalphotomag.com/robin-hinsch-wahala/ |access-date=2020-01-23 |language=en-GB}}</ref> This is the equivalent to 40% of Africa's gas consumption in 2001. Statistical data associated with ] are notoriously unreliable, but Nigeria may waste US$2 billion per year by flaring associated gas.<ref name="gasflaring2"> Friends of the Earth, 2004.</ref><ref> World Bank, 2008.</ref> Flaring is done, because it is costly to separate commercially viable associated gas from the oil. Companies operating in Nigeria also harvest natural gas for commercial purposes but prefer to extract it from deposits where it is found in isolation as non-associated gas. Thus associated gas is burned off to decrease costs.


Gas flares are potentially harmful to nearby communities, as they release poisonous chemicals including ]s, ], ], as well as ]. These chemicals can aggravate ], cause breathing difficulties and pain, as well as ].<ref name="gasflaring"> Friends of the Earth Nigeria</ref>
A ] interview with Uche Onyeagocha, staff attorney, Civil Liberties Organisation (Port Harcourt), Washington, D.C., May 12, 1995, documented that members of minority groups in the Niger Delta, whose land is the source of over 90% of Nigeria's oil, especially opposed the prevailing revenue allocation formula, under which the federal, state, and local governments had almost complete discretion over the distribution of oil proceeds.<ref name="HRW Reports">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1995/Nigeria.htm#P181_20149 |title=Nigeria: The Ogoni Crises |date=July 1995 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |accessdate=19 December 2014}}</ref> 80% of Nigeria's federal government revenue comes from this resource rich region. <ref name="Nigerian Economy">{{cite web |url=http://nigerianembassy.nu/economy/ |title=Nigerian Economy |publisher=Embassy of Nigeria, Stockholm Sweden |accessdate=19 December 2014}}</ref> The World Bank estimates this accrues to only 1% of the general population.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2011/01/DrillingIntoDebt.pdf|last1=Kretzmann|first1=Stephen|last2=Noouruddin|first2=Irfan|title=DRILLING INTO DEBT - An Investigation into the Relationship Between Debt and Oil|website=priceforoil.org|publisher=Oil Change International|accessdate=22 December 2014|ref=Drilling Into Debt}}</ref>
<blockquote>
"The Ogoni people will make representation to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the effect that giving loans and credit to the Nigerian Government on the understanding that oil money will be used to repay such loans is to encourage the Nigerian government to continue to dehumanise the Ogoni people and to devastate the environment and ecology of the Ogoni and other delta minorities among whom oil is found.
The Ogoni people will inform the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity that the Nigerian Constitution and the actions of the power elite in Nigeria flagrantly violate the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights; and that Nigeria in 1992 is no different from Apartheid South Africa. The Ogoni people will ask that Nigeria be duly chastised by both organizations for its inhuman actions and uncivilized behaviour. And if Nigeria persists in its perversity, then it should be expelled from both organizations.<ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights"></ref>


Gas flares are often close to communities and regularly lack fencing or protection for villagers who risk working near their heat. Many communities claim that nearby flares cause ] which corrodes their homes and other structures, many of which have ]-based roofing. Some people resort to using ]-based material, which is stronger in repelling acid rain deterioration.<ref> Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2007.</ref> Unfortunately, asbestos exposure increases the risk of forming ], ] and ], and ].<ref name="HRW99">Bronwen Manby: ]. 1999. Retrieved November 9, 2007</ref><ref> Essential Action, 2000. Retrieved May 10, 2007.</ref>
Ogoni Bill of Rights
</blockquote>


==== Effects on Ogoni people ====
Former World Bank Vice-President for Africa, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, gave an estimation of $400 billion of Nigeria's oil revenue that was stolen or misspent from 1960 to 1999.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Soniyi|first1=Tobi|title=Nigeria: U.S.$400 Billion of Oil Revenue Stolen, Says Ezekwesili|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201208290453.html|website=allafrica.com|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref> Around 70% of the oil revenues were estimated by an Nigerian anti-corruption agency to have been wasted or lost to corruption. The ] led Task Force on Oil Revenue, produced a 146-page study covering 2002-2011. The report validated that "Nigeria lost out on tens of billions of dollars in oil and gas revenues over that decade from cut price deals struck between multinational oil companies and government officials cut-price gas, while Nigerian oil ministers handed out licenses at their own discretion. The report alleges international oil traders sometimes buy crude without any formal contracts, and the state oil firm had short-changed the Nigerian treasury billions over the last 10 years by selling crude oil and gas to itself below market rates." The Ribadu report also noted in a ten year span:
In describing the effects of these environmental damages upon his people, the President of MOSOP, Dr. Garrick Barile Leton stated in 1991 that,<blockquote>
"The estimated cumulative of the deficit between value obtainable on the international market and what is currently being obtained from NLNG, over the 10 year period, amounts to approximately $29 billion." <ref>{{cite web|url=http://reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/us-nigeria-oil-idUSBRE89N0VV20121024|title=Exclusive: Nigeria loses billions in cut price oil deals - report|website=reuters.com|publisher=|date=24 October 2012|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref>
Lands, streams and creeks are totally and continually polluted; the atmosphere is for ever charged with hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; many villages experience the infernal quaking of the wrath of gas flares which have been burning 24 hours a day for 33 years; acid rain, oil spillages and blowouts are common. The result of such unchecked environmental pollution and degradation are that (i) The Ogoni can no longer farm successfully. Once the food basket of the eastern Niger Delta, the Ogoni now buy food (when they can afford it); (ii) Fish, once a common source of protein, is now rare. Owing to the constant and continual pollution of our streams and creeks, fish can only be caught in deeper and offshore waters for which the Ogoni are not equipped. (iii) All wildlife is dead. (iv) The ecology is changing fast. The mangrove tree, the aerial roots of which normally provide a natural and welcome habitat for many a sea food – crabs, periwinkles, mudskippers, cockles, mussels, shrimps and all – is now being gradually replaced by unknown and otherwise useless plants. (v) The health hazards generated by an atmosphere charged with hydrocarbon vapour, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are innumerable.<ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights" /></blockquote>


==== Early protests ====
Shell Oil's ] efforts prompted ] Europe, on 8 May 2007, to file simultaneous complaints in three European countries to the national advertising standards authorities of Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK about Shell's advertisements which depicted the outline of an oil refinery emitting flowers rather than smoke and claimed that it uses its "waste CO2 to grow flowers and waste sulphur to make concrete".<ref name="Shell's Misleading Ad: Complaint Submitted">{{cite web |url=http://foeeurope.org/press/2007/May8_PDC_Shell_advert.htm |title=Oil refineries emit smoke not flowers |date=8 May 2007 |publisher=Friends of the Earth |accessdate=19 December 2014}}</ref>
In 1970, Ogoni Chiefs and Elders of the Ogoni Divisional Commission (W. Nzidee, F. Yowika, N. Ndegwe, E. Kobani, O. Nalelo, Chief A. Ngei and O. Ngofa), submitted a petition<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ken Saro-Wiwa, Excerpts from Saro-Wiwa on Shell in Ogoni |url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/34a/022.html |website=www.hartford-hwp.com}}</ref><ref name="Shell in Ogoni">{{cite web |author1=Ken Saro-Wiwa |title=Shell in Ogoni 1992 (Excerpt) |url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/34a/022.html |access-date=December 21, 2014}}</ref> to the local Military Governor as a formal complaint against Shell, then operating a joint venture with BP. It brought notice that the company was "seriously threatening the well-being, and even the very lives" of the Ogoni.


Shell's response was that the petition was an attempt to place development and other responsibilities on the company and that the "contentions ... bear little relation to what is actually taking place".<ref name="Shell in Ogoni" />
Shell Oil has maintained that the issues of pollution of the Niger Delta is brought about by illegal refining of crude oil, sabotage and theft of oil field infrastructure.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shell in Nigeria - The UNEP Report|url=http://s02.static-shell.com/content/dam/shell-new/local/country/nga/downloads/pdf/2014bnotes/unep.pdf|website=shell.com|publisher=SpDC, SNEP and Shell Nigeria Gas|accessdate=22 December 2014|date=April 2014}}</ref> Research by Amnesty International, CEHRD and Friends of the Earth provide examples of cases where Shell claimed the cause of a spill was sabotage, but this claim was subsequently called into question by other investigations or the courts. This evidence, which includes video footage of an oil spill investigation where the cause of the spill was changed, by Shell, from "equipment failure" to "sabotage, following the field investigation, has been shared with Shell.<ref name="No Progress">{{cite web|title=No Progress|url=http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR44/013/2014/en/f38c44ea-5da9-465a-ac8a-9590ab33e9e8/afr440132014en.pdf|website=amnesty.org|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref>

In July 1970, there was a major blow-out at the ] in Ogoni, which continued for three weeks, causing widespread pollution and outrage. P. Badom, of the Dere Youths Association, issued a letter of protest, stating:<blockquote>
"Our rivers, rivulets and creeks are all covered with crude oil. We no longer breathe the natural oxygen, rather we inhale lethal and ghastly gases. Our water can no longer be drunk unless one wants to test the effect of crude oil on the body. We no longer use vegetables, they are all polluted."{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}
</blockquote>


The Iko people wrote to Shell in 1980 demanding "compensation and restitution of our rights to clean air, water and a viable environment where we can source for our means of livelihood".<ref name="All for Shell">{{cite web |author1=Andrew Rowell |author2=Stephen Kretzmann |author3=Lowenstein Nigeria Project, Yale Law School |date=November 1, 1996 |title=All for Shell: The Ogoni Struggle – A Project Underground Report |url=https://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2006/05/ALL_FOR_SHELL_2005_.pdf |access-date= |website=priceofoil.org}}</ref>
Under Nigerian law the operating company is responsible for cleaning up oil spills from its facilities, even if the spill is the result of third-party action. Therefore, the human and environmental impact of Shell's failure to properly clean up pollution cannot be defended by reference to illegal activity that, allegedly, caused the oil spills.<ref name="No Progress"></ref>


In 1987, when the Iko once again held a peaceful demonstration against Shell, the ] destroyed 40 houses, and 350 people were made homeless.<ref name="All for Shell" />
Because of the oil-related suffering of the Ogoni people, governmental neglect, lack of social services, and political marginalization, these concerns were placed in the context of Ogonis as "a separate and distinct ethnic nationality." On this basis they sought ], environmental protection, control of a fair share of the revenues from their resources, and cultural rights (such as the use of their local languages).<ref>{{cite book |title=Social problems in Africa: new visions |last=Rwomire |first=Apollo |year=2001 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-275-96343-9 |pages=83–85 }}</ref>


==History== ==History==
MOSOP was the outgrowth of such protests during the 1970s and 1980s. Ken Saro-Wiwa initiated the idea of MOSOP and attracted a mix of educated Ogoni elites and chiefs, including its first president Dr. Garrick Barile Leton.<ref>{{cite book |last=Okafor |first=Obiora Chinedu |title=Legitimizing human rights NGOs: lessons from Nigeria |publisher=Africa World Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-59221-286-6 |pages=39–41}}</ref> Goodluck Diigbo, President of the National Youth Council of Ogoni People, (NYCOP) established seven of the ten affiliates that made up MOSOP.{{Clarification needed|reason=|date=November 2022}} Chief E. N. Kobani became vice president of MOSOP.
{{expand section|date=December 2014}}


MOSOP's first effort was the 1990 Ogoni Bill of Rights addressed to the federal government, the people of Nigeria, and as an appeal to the international community.<ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights" /> The Ogoni demands were: political autonomy to participate in the affairs of the Republic as a distinct and separate unit, provided that this autonomy guaranteed political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people; the right to control and use a fair proportion of Ogoni economic resources for Ogoni development; adequate representation in Nigerian national institutions; and the right to protect the Ogoni environment and ecology from further degradation.<ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights" /> Military president ], made no reply to these demands.<ref name="All for Shell" />
In 1970, Ogoni Chiefs and Elders of the Ogoni Divisional Commission, W. Nzidee, F. Yowika, N. Ndegwe, E. Kobani, O. Nalelo, Chief A. Ngei and O. Ngofa, <ref name="Shell in Ogoni">{{cite web|last1=|first1=|author1=Ken Saro-Wiwa|title=Shell in Ogoni 1992 (Excerpt)|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/34a/022.html|website=|accessdate=21 December 2014}}</ref> to the local Military Governor as a formal complaint against Shell, then operating a joint venture with BP. It brought notice that the company was “seriously threatening the well-being, and even the very lives” of the Ogoni.


=== Ogoni Bill of Rights ===
Shell's response was that the petition was an attempt to place development and other responsibilities on the company and that the "contentions...bear little relation to what is actually taking place." <ref name="Shell in Ogoni"></ref>
In August 1990, the Ogoni elders signed the Ogoni Bill of Rights, demanding "political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people, control and use of Ogoni economic resources for Ogoni development, adequate and direct representation as a right for Ogoni people in all Nigerian national institutions, and the right to protect the Ogoni environment and ecology from further degradation."<ref name="All for Shell" />


MOSOP presented the Bill of Rights to several parties: the Federal government of Nigeria; the ] in Geneva;<ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights" /><ref name=":0" /> the UN sub-committee on Human Rights; the ]; and ]. The Ogoni case was also presented to the ] in 1993.<ref name="Osaghae 1995" />
In July, there was a major blow-out at the Bomu oilfield in Ogoni, which continued for three weeks, causing widespread pollution and outrage. P. Badom, of the Dere Youths Association, issued a letter of protest citing:
<blockquote>"Our rivers, rivulets and creeks are all covered with crude oil" wrote the Dere Youths Association, "We no longer breathe the natural oxygen, rather we inhale lethal and ghastly gases. Our water can no longer be drunk unless one wants to test the effect of crude oil on the body. We no longer use vegetables, they are all polluted". <ref>{{cite journal|last1=Badom|first1=P.|title=A Protest Presented to Representatives of the Shell-BP Dev.Co of Nig. Ltd. by the Dere Youths Association. Against the Company's Lack of Interest in the Sufferings of Dere People which Sufferings are Caused as a Result of the Company's Operations}}</ref> <ref name="All for Shell">{{cite web|author1=Andrew Rowell|author2=Stephen Kretzmann|author3=Lowenstein Nigeria Project, Yale Law School|title=ALL FOR SHELL:The Ogoni Struggle - A Project Underground Report|url=http://www.ratical.org/corporations/OgoniStruggleTL.html|website=ratical.org|archiveurl=http://moles.org/|archivedate=March 4, 1997|date=November 1, 1996|accessdate=21 December 2014}}</ref></p></blockquote>


They also stated that ] bore “full responsibility for the genocide of the Ogoni.”<ref name="HRW Reports989" />
The Iko people wrote to Shell in 1980 demanding, “compensation and restitution of our rights to clean air, water and a viable environment where we can source for our means of livelihood.”<ref name="All for Shell"></ref>


The Bill summaraised the sufferings of the Ogoni peoples and their political marginalisation and neglect by the government. They also defined themselves as "a separate and distinct ethnic nationality", and demanded participation in national affairs as "a distinct and separate unit".<ref>{{cite book |last=Rwomire |first=Apollo |title=Social problems in Africa: new visions |publisher=] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-275-96343-9 |pages=83–85}}</ref><ref name="Osaghae 1995" />
In 1987, when the Iko once again held a peaceful demonstration against Shell, the notorious Mobile Police Force (MPF), locally known as “kill-and-go” was called. 40 houses were destroyed and 350 people were made homeless by the MPF’s attack.<ref name="All for Shell"></ref>


The Ogoni Bill of Rights stated that:<blockquote>The Ogoni people will make representation to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the effect that giving loans and credit to the Nigerian Government on the understanding that oil money will be used to repay such loans is to encourage the Nigerian government to continue to dehumanise the Ogoni people and to devastate the environment and ecology of the Ogoni and other delta minorities among whom oil is found.
In August 1990, the Ogoni elders signed the Ogoni Bill of Rights, which called for “political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people, control and use of Ogoni economic resources for Ogoni development, adequate and direct representation as of right for Ogoni people in all Nigerian national institutions and the right to protect the Ogoni environment and ecology from further degradation”.<ref name="All for Shell"></ref>
The Ogoni people will inform the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity that the Nigerian Constitution and the actions of the power elite in Nigeria flagrantly violate the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights; and that Nigeria in 1992 is no different from Apartheid South Africa. The Ogoni people will ask that Nigeria be duly chastised by both organizations for its inhuman actions and uncivilized behaviour. And if Nigeria persists in its perversity, then it should be expelled from both organizations.<ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights" /></blockquote>


=== Early uprisings 1990–93 ===
MOSOP was the outgrowth of these protest demonstrations in the Delta. Goodluck Diigbo, a journalist, was the National President of the National Youth Council of Ogoni People, NYCOP. Saro-Wiwa had charged him with the responsibility of establishing seven of the ten affiliates that made up MOSOP. Before the affiliates came into being, Ken Saro-Wiwa who initiated the idea of MOSOP had attracted a mix of educated Ogoni elites and chiefs, including its first president Dr. Garrick Barile Leton .<ref>{{cite book |title=Legitimizing human rights NGOs: lessons from Nigeria |last=Okafor |first=Obiora Chinedu |year=2006 |publisher=Africa World Press |isbn=978-1-59221-286-6 |pages=39–41 }}</ref> Chief E. N. Kobani became vice president of MOSOP.


==== Umuechem protests ====
MOSOP succeeded in organizing its first efforts with the 1990 Ogoni Bill of Rights addressed to the Government of the Federal Republic and the People of Nigeria, General Ibrahim Babangida, the former military president of Nigeria and members of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, but received no reply to its demands for autonomy. The Ogoni lists their concerns: 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 political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people; the right to control and use a fair proportion of Ogoni economic resources for Ogoni development; adequate representations, as of right, in all Nigerian national institutions, and the right to protect the Ogoni environment and ecology from further degradation.<ref name="Ogoni Bill of Rights"/>
In late October, 1990, protests at a Shell facility in the Umuechem community of ] brought the situation in the Niger Delta to international attention. In anticipation of the protests, Shell requested the presence of the paramilitary MPF, who killed approximately 80 unarmed demonstrators and destroyed or severely damaged 495 houses.<ref name="HRW Reports989">{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/nigeria/Nigew991-08.htm#P989_341696 |title=The Price of Oil |last=Manby |first=Bronwen |date=January 1999 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=December 15, 2014}}</ref><ref name="All for Shell" /> A government inquiry later found that villagers posed no threat and concluded that the MPF's violence was in "reckless disregard for lives and property.”<ref name="HRW Reports989" />


==== Ogoni uprising ====
The Niger Delta was brought to international attention with the protest at Shell's facility in the Umuechem community of ], east of ], ] on October 30 and 31, 1990. Shell specifically requested the presence of the MPF. <ref name="All for Shell"></ref> This incident saw approximately 80 unarmed demonstrators killed and the destruction and sever damage of 495 houses by the ].<ref name="HRW Reports">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/nigeria/Nigew991-08.htm#P989_341696 |title=The Price of Oil |last=Manby |first=Bronwen |date=January 1999 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |accessdate=15 December 2014}}</ref>
From 1990 to 1993, MOSOP responded to the failure of previous petitions to elicit a response from the government or the oil companies by increasingly asserting their right to self-determination and their right to confront the oil companies directly. MOSOP leaders campaigned amongst various local clans and mounted media campaigns, promising monetary compensation for damages if their campaign succeeded.<ref name="Osaghae 1995" />


In 1992, the conflict escalated as MOSOP demanded that ] (SPDC), ], and the ] (NNPC), pay $10 billion in compensation to Ogoni people, immediately stop environmental degradation, and negotiate with Ogoni people to reach acceptable terms for further oil extraction.<ref name="HRW Nigeria95" /><ref name="Osaghae 1995" /> If the companies failed to comply within 30 days, the Ogonis threatened mass action to disrupt their operations. By this act, the Ogonis shifted the focus of their actions from an unresponsive federal government to oil companies actively engaged in their own region.<ref name="Niger Delta Affairs">{{cite web |url=http://nigerdeltaaffairs.org/index.php/ogoni-bill-of-rights |title=Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People |website=nigerdeltaaffairs.org |access-date=December 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221034430/http://nigerdeltaaffairs.org/index.php/ogoni-bill-of-rights |archive-date=December 21, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
=== Early 1990s and The Ogoni Crises ===
<ul>
<li>July 1992<p>Saro-Wiwa addresses the ] in Geneva.<ref name="All for Shell" /></p>
</li>
<li>Early December 1992
<p>The conflict escalated to a level of greater seriousness and intensity on both sides. It was in this phase of the conflict that overt violence was applied on the large scale by the Nigerian government. In December 1992, MOSOP sent its demands to SPDC, Chevron, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, along with an ultimatum to pay back royalties and compensation within thirty days or quit Ogoniland.<ref name="HRW Reports">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1995/Nigeria.htm |title=Nigeria, The Ogoni Crisis, Vol.7, No.5 |date=July 1995 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |accessdate=19 December 2014}}</ref> The collision course between the two parties was set with an ultimatum to the oil companies (], ], and the ]) which demanded some $10 billion in accumulated ], damages and compensation, and "immediate stoppage of environmental degradation," and negotiations for mutual agreement on all future drilling. If the companies failed to comply, the Ogonis threatened to embark on mass action to disrupt their operations. By this act, the Ogonis shifted the focus of their actions from an unresponsive federal government to oil companies actively engaged in their own region. The bases for this assignment of responsibility were the vast profits accrued by the oil companies from extracting the natural wealth of the Ogoni homeland, none of which were trickling down to the Ogoni.<ref name="Niger Delta Affairs">{{cite web |url=http://nigerdeltaaffairs.org/index.php/ogoni-bill-of-rights |title=Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People |website=nigerdeltaaffairs.org |accessdate=20 December 2014}}</ref><p>
</li>
</ul>


===== Shell withdrawal =====
'''1993'''
In January 1993, the national government responded by banning public gatherings and declaring that disturbances of oil production were acts of treason. In spite of the ban, MOSOP went ahead with a massive public mobilization on January 4, 1993. The event, called the first Ogoni Day, attracted about 300,000 people in massive festivities. Saro-wiwa and other MOSOP leaders were arrested.<ref name="Osaghae 1995" /> Over the next month as the mobilization continued, a Shell employee was beaten by an Ogoni mob. As a security measure, ] withdrew its employees from Ogoniland. Oil extraction from the territory slowed to {{convert|10000|oilbbl/d|m3/d}} (.5% of the national total).<ref name="Niger Delta Affairs" />
<ul>
<li>January 4<p>The national government responded by banning public gatherings and declaring that disturbances of oil production were acts of treason. In spite of the ban, MOSOP went ahead with a massive public mobilization on January 4, 1993. The event, called the first Ogoni Day, attracted about 300,000 people in massive festivities. Over the next month as the mobilization continued, one Shell employee (out of thousands) was beaten by an Ogoni mob. As a security measure, ] withdrew its employees from Ogoniland. This action had very mixed consequences. Oil extraction from the territory has slowed to a trickle of {{convert|10000|oilbbl/d|m3/d}} (.5% of the national total). However, because the withdrawal was a temporary security measure, it provided the government with a compelling reason to "restore order": resume the flows of oil from Ogoniland and of oil money to national coffers.<ref name="Niger Delta Affairs">{{cite web |url=http://nigerdeltaaffairs.org/index.php/ogoni-bill-of-rights |title=Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People |website=nigerdeltaaffairs.org |accessdate=20 December 2014}}</ref><p>
</li>
<li>February 15–16<p>Shell International advisors meet with the Shell Petroleum
Development Company (SPDC) in London and the Hague to consider
strategies for countering the "possibility that internationally
organized protest could develop" over Shell's activities in Ogoni.<p>
</li>
<li>April<p>A memo was sent from Komo to Okuntimo, entitled “Restoration of Law and Order in Ogoniland” It gave details for an extensive military presence in Ogoni, drawing resources from the army, air force, navy, and police, including both the Mobile Police Force and conventional units. In a move meant to facilitate the reopening of oil installations, one of the missions of this operation was to ensure that those “carrying out business ventures … within Ogoniland are not molested”. Saro-Wiwa, commenting on the memo above, said: “This is it – they are going to arrest us all and execute us. All for Shell.” The following month Okuntimo sent a “restricted” memo back to Komo remarking that “Shell operations still impossible unless ruthless military operations are undertaken for smooth economic activities to commence”. To counter this, Okuntimo recommended: “Wasting operations during MOSOP and other gatherings making constant military presence justifiable.” <ref name="All for Shell" /><p>
</li>
<li>April 18<p>Ken Saro-Wiwa, chairman of the resistance group "Movement for the
Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)," is held by the Nigerian
State Security Service at Port Harcourt Airport for 16 hours
without charges, is released, but then arrested 5 days later.</p>
</li>
<li>April 30<p>Construction work on Shell's Rumuekpe-Bomu Pipeline destroys
freshly planted Ogoni farmland sparking a peaceful demonstration of
approximately 10,000 Ogoni villagers. Nigerian Federal government
soldiers open fire on the crowd of demonstrators, wounding at least
10.</p>
</li>
<li>May 1
<p>Mass demonstrations along Bori Road against the pipeline
construction continue. Shell decides to withdraw American workers
and equipment.</p>
</li>
<li>May 3<p>Agbarator Otu is shot and killed by members of the Nigerian
military while protesting work on the pipeline at Nonwa.</p>
</li>
<li>May 16<p>Mr. Saro-Wiwa has his passport seized while trying to leave for
London.</p>
</li>
<li>May 19<p>Amnesty International issues an Urgent Action concerning the extra
judicial killing of Mr. Otu and the Nigerian government's use of
force against peaceful Ogoni protests.</p>
</li>
<li>May 24<p>Mr. Saro-Wiwa begins a European tour and succeeds in drawing
attention to the struggle of the Ogoni people. Shell responds to
the international attention and is 'happy to discuss these matters
further....'</p>
</li>
<li>June 12<p>Presidential elections are boycotted by the Ogoni. A ruptured
pipeline begins to spray oil in Bunu Tai, Ogoni land. Forty days
later, the flow is yet to be stopped. Mr. Saro-Wiwa is prevented
from travelling to the UN conference in Vienna by Nigerian SSS, and
his passport is seized.</p>
</li>
<li>June 21<p>Mr. Saro-Wiwa and other MOSOP officials are arrested.</p>
</li>
<li>June 22
<p>Ogoni people march in Bori, in protest against MOSOP arrests. In
reaction, Federal government soldiers are moved from Port Harcourt
and stationed in Bori. Indiscriminate beatings and arrests of
Ogoni people by 'heavy armed and unfriendly Nigerian soldiers
and police' are frequent.</p>
</li>
<li>June 30<p>Amnesty International issues a Fast Action concerning Mr. Saro-
Wiwa.</p>
</li>
<li>July 9<p>At least 60 Ogoni people are killed by Andoni when
arriving back from the Cameroon Republic by boat. This 'incident'
marks the beginning of Ogoni-Andoni violence.</p>
</li>
<li>Mid-July<p>Mr. Saro-Wiwa is moved to a hospital and later released on bail,
but charges still stand.</p>
</li>
<li>August 5<p>Kaa is the first village attacked in the Andoni-Ogoni conflict,
resulting in 33 deaths and 8,000 refugees. Over the coming months,
similar incidents occur in over 20 other villages. MOSOP accuses
Shell of being behind the Andoni-Ogoni violence.</p>
</li>
<li>August 31<p>MOSOP leaders are summoned to Abuja for a meeting with the Interim
government, installed by former head of state Babangida after the
annulment of the June 12 election results. This is the first time
that the Nigerian government officially discussed the situation in
Ogoniland with MOSOP.</p>
</li>
<li>Beginning September<p>Mr. Saro-Wiwa, Senator Birabi, and representatives of the Rivers
State Security Council visit the destroyed village of Kaa and urge
Governor Ada George to take measures to curb Andoni-Ogoni violence.
Meetings are arranged between Andoni and Ogoni leaders and
government representatives. This leads to the creation of a Peace
Committee, headed by Professor Claude Ake.</p>
</li>
<li>September 15<p>General Sani Abacha promises Mr. Saro-Wiwa that Federal troops will
be sent to Ogoniland to help curb Andoni-Ogoni violence.</p>
</li>
<li>October 6<p>A Peace Agreement is signed concerning the Ogoni-Andoni troubles,
but without the signature of Mr. Saro-Wiwa, or the 'consultation of
the communities involved.'</p>
</li>
<li>October 17<p>An oil spill at Korokoro oil fields in Ogoni, operated by Shell.
Baritonle Kpormon is shot dead at a checkpoint in Bori by a Federal
soldier who has been sent to ensure peace at the Ogoni-Andoni
border; however Bori is not at the border. A MOSOP Steering
Committee meeting accepts the Peace Agreement but for two
paragraphs, and calls for a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to be
installed by the Federal government.</p>
</li>
<li>October 19<p>Professor Ake, chairman of the Peace Conference, send a letter to
Governor Ada George, stating that he does not agree with the Peace
Agreement. According to him, it was drafted in haste and without
proper consultation of the communities involved.</p>
</li>
<li>October 23<p>Two fire trucks from SPDC are seized at Korokoro by local
inhabitants.</p>
</li>
<li>October 25<p>Three Ogoni men are shot at Korokoro oil fields by Federal
government soldiers accompanying Shell workers who went back to
retrieve the fire trucks. One man dies (Uebari Nna), and two are
wounded (Pal Sunday and Mboo Ndike).</p>
</li>
<li>November 17<p>The interim government resigns. General Abacha becomes the new
Nigerian head of state.</p>
</li>
<li>December 13<p>Governor Ada George is replaced by Lt. Col. Dauda Komo. Violent
clashes between Ogoni and Okirika over crowded land at waterfronts,
Port Harcourt. Over 90 people are reported dead, many more
wounded.</p>
</li>
<li>December 28<p>Probably to prevent the start of the Ogoni Week, MOSOP leaders Dr.
Owen Wiwa and Ledum Mitee, a lawyer, are arrested without being
charged. The Ogoni Assembly is dispersed by Nigerian soldiers.
Lt. Col. Komo states that Ogoni Week was aborted because MOSOP
didn't apply for a permit.</p>
</li>
</ul>
'''1994'''
<ul>
<li>January 2<p>Mr. Saro-Wiwa is placed under house arrest.</p>
</li>
<li>January 4<p>Dr. Owen Wiwa and Mr. Ledum are released and Mr. Saro-Wiwa's house
arrest is lifted.</p>
</li>
<li>January 11<p>A seven member Commission of Inquiry is installed by the Rivers
State government to investigate Ogoni-Okirika clashes, and starts
public sittings in Port Harcourt.</p>
</li>
<li>January 20<p>A three-member ministerial team starts a two-day tour of Rivers
State to investigate the hostilities between the communities there,
as part of a general inquiry of community clashes. The Nigerian
government is especially worried about troubles in oil producing
areas.</p>
</li>
<li>January 21<p>A $500 million contract is signed in Port Harcourt between Shell
Nigeria and ABB Global Engineering UK, allowing the latter to
collect gas from 10 flow stations in Rivers State.</p>
</li>
<li>January 24<p>The three major oil companies in Port Harcourt estimate to have
lost over $200 million during 1993, due to 'unfavorable conditions
in their areas of operation,' and call for urgent measures to
combat the situation.</p>
</li>
<li>Beginning April<p>A small conflict between Ogoni and Okoloma leads to serious
clashes; Lt. Col. Komo is reported to have said that soldiers have
been directed to deal with aggressive communities, and if necessary
shoot trouble makers. Fifteen Ogoni people are arrested without
being charged, including Dr. Owen Wiwa.</p>
</li>
</ul>


In June, 1993 the Ogoni boycotted Presidential elections.
On May 21, 1994, four Ogoni chiefs (all on the conservative side of a schism within MOSOP over strategy) were murdered. Saro-Wiwa, head of the opposing faction, had been denied entry to Ogoniland on the day of the murders, but was then detained in connection with the killings. Rivers State Military Administrator Lt. Col. ] did not wait for a judicial investigation to blame the killings on "irresponsible and reckless thuggery of the MOSOP element".<ref>Videotape, press conference, Port Harcourt, Nigerian Television Authority, May 22, 1994.</ref>


===== Ogoni-Andoni violence{{Clarification needed|date=November 2022}} =====
Led by Major ] of ] Internal Security, who claimed to be "searching for those directly responsible for the killings of the four Ogonis", witnesses say that they engaged in terror operations against the general Ogoni population. ] characterized the policy as deliberate terrorism. By mid-June, 30 villages had been completely destroyed, 600 people had been detained, and at least 40 had been killed. An eventual total of around 100,000 internal refugees and an estimated 2,000 civilian deaths was recorded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200807250063.html |title=Nigeria: Deriving Benefits From Oil Revenue |last=Ayodele |first=Thompson |date=July 28, 2008 |website=allafrica.com}}</ref>
On July 9 At least 60 Ogoni people are killed, allegedly by Andoni, when arriving back from the Cameroon Republic by boat. This "incident" marks the beginning of Ogoni-Andoni violence. August 5 – Kaa is the first village attacked in the Andoni-Ogoni conflict, resulting in 33 deaths and 8,000 refugees. Over the coming months, similar incidents occur in over 20 other villages. MOSOP accuses Shell of being behind the Andoni-Ogoni violence.{{Clarification needed|date=November 2022}}<ref name="Osaghae 1995" /><ref name=":1" />


=== Mid 1990s and the Execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine === === Execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine (1994) ===
{{see also|Ogoni Nine}} {{Main|Ogoni Nine}}
On May 21, 1994, four Ogoni chiefs (all on the conservative side of a schism within MOSOP over strategy) were murdered. Saro-Wiwa (head of the radical faction), was detained in connection with the killings, although he had been denied entry to Ogoniland on the day of the murders. Rivers State Military Administrator Lt. Col. ] did not wait for a judicial investigation to blame the killings on "irresponsible and reckless thuggery of the MOSOP element".<ref>Videotape, press conference, Port Harcourt, Nigerian Television Authority, May 22, 1994.</ref>
{{expand section|date=December 2014}}


Witnesses said that Rivers State Internal Security engaged in terror operations against the general Ogoni population while claiming to search for people responsible for the killings of the four Ogoni leaders. ] characterized the policy as deliberate terrorism. By mid-June, 30 villages had been completely destroyed, 600 people had been detained, and at least 40 had been killed. An eventual total of around 100,000 internal refugees and an estimated 2,000 civilian deaths was recorded.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ayodele |first=Thompson |date=July 28, 2008 |title=Nigeria: Deriving Benefits From Oil Revenue |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200807250063.html |website=allafrica.com}}</ref>
Ken Saro-Wiwa, N.G. Dube and Kobari Nwilewas were arrested in Port Harcourt in Rivers State in eastern Nigeria on 21 June 1993. Following their arrest, Ken Saro-Wiwa, N.G. Dube and Kobari Nwile were first transferred to Lagos, then to Owerri in Imo State and finally to Port Harcourt where they are currently in prison. The three were charged on 13 July 1993 under the Criminal Code of Eastern Nigeria in connection with their activities on behalf of the Ogoni community. Charges on six counts relating to unlawful assembly, seditious intention and seditious publication. Bail was not set and all three remanded in custody until 20 September. On 11 June, Saro-Wiwa's passport was confiscated at Lagos airport, preventing him from traveling to Vienna to represent MOSOP at the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/007/1993/en |work=Amensty International |title=UA 238/93 - Nigeria: health concern / legal concern: Ken Saro-Wiwa, N G Dube, Kobari Nwile |accessdate=2014-12-17}}</ref>


==== Arrest and summary execution of Ogoni nine ====
On November 10, 1995 nine activists from the movement, Barinem Klobel, John Kpunien, Baribor Bera, Saturday Dobee, Felix Nwate, Nordu Eawo, Paul Levura, and Daniel Gbokoo along with playwright and ] nominee ], were hanged 10 days after being convicted by the Nigerian government on charges of "incitement to murder" of the four Ogoni leaders.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ken Saro-Wiwa|url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/ken_sarowiwa/index.html|website=nytimes.com|publisher=The New York Times Company|accessdate=22 December 2014|archiveurl=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/ken_sarowiwa/index.html|archivedate=May 22, 2009}}</ref> In the final address to the military-appointed tribunal, Saro-Wiwa concludes the responsibility of Shell Corporation and its actions as war crimes against the Ogoni People:
Ken Saro-Wiwa, N. G. Dube, and Kobari Nwilewas were arrested in ] on June 21, 1993. The three were charged on 13 July 1993 with six counts relating to unlawful assembly, seditious intention and seditious publication. Bail was not set and all three remanded in custody until September 20.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/007/1993/en |work=Amnesty International |title=UA 238/93 – Nigeria: health concern / legal concern: Ken Saro-Wiwa, N. G. Dube, Kobari Nwile |date=July 19, 1993 |access-date=2014-12-17}}</ref>

On November 10, 1995, nine activists from the movement, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpunien, Baribor Bera, Saturday Dobee, Felix Nwate, Nordu Eawo, Paul Levura, and Daniel Gbokoo along Ken Saro-Wiwa, were hanged 10 days after being convicted by the Nigerian government on charges of "incitement to murder" of the four Ogoni leaders.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ken Saro-Wiwa|url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/ken_sarowiwa/index.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> In the final address to the military-appointed tribunal, Saro-Wiwa describes the actions of Shell Corporation as war crimes against the Ogoni People:


<blockquote> <blockquote>
"I repeat that we all stand before history. I and my colleagues are not the only ones on trial. Shell is here on trial and it is as well that it is represented by counsel said to be holding a watching brief. The Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it for there is no doubt in my mind that the ecological war that the Company has waged in the Delta will be called to question sooner than later and the crimes of that war be duly punished. The crime of the Company’s dirty wars against the Ogoni people will also be punished." I repeat that we all stand before history. I and my colleagues are not the only ones on trial. Shell is here on trial and it is as well that it is represented by counsel said to be holding a watching brief. The Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it for there is no doubt in my mind that the ecological war that the Company has waged in the Delta will be called to question sooner than later and the crimes of that war be duly punished. The crime of the Company's dirty wars against the Ogoni people will also be punished.


''Excerpt from:'' {{cite wikisource|title=Trial Speech of Ken Saro-Wiwa}} ''Excerpt from:'' {{cite wikisource |title=Trial Speech of Ken Saro-Wiwa}}
</blockquote>An anonymous interview revealed a first hand telling of that day and the events that took place;<blockquote>Everywhere was quiet and then on the morning of May 21st ... as we woke up in the morning most of the Ogoni communities were filled with soldiers and mobile policemen armed with sophisticated weapons. We don’t (sic) know why they just came, it was only when four prominent Ogoni sons were killed later in the afternoon of that day that we in Ogoni ever knew that there was a grand design to cause disturbances in Ogoni in order to create an excuse for the government to send in more troops<ref>{{Cite journal|last=(Delta Force, 1995).|title=|journal=}}</ref></blockquote>
</blockquote>


==== International response ====
His death provoked international outrage and the immediate suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations as well as the calling back of many foreign diplomats for consultation.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.pbs.org/hopes/nigeria/story.html| work=PBS | title=Hopes on the Horizon_Africa in the 1990s_Nigeria | accessdate=2014-12-14}}</ref> According to the ] President, these were the fastest executions in the West African nation's history.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/nigeria/11-11/ | work=CNN | title=Nigeria suspended from Commonwealth | accessdate=2010-05-13}}</ref>
Nigerian human rights activists and opposition groups had longed urged the Commonwealth and the United States to impose economic sanctions on the Nigerian government. This they argued was the opportune time to "turn the screws on" Nigeria's military government by boycotting its oil. The United States, which buys half of Nigeria's oil, declined through a press statement.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/nigeria/11-11/ |work=CNN |title=Nigeria suspended from Commonwealth |accessdate=2014-12-14}}</ref> Saro-Wiwa's death provoked international outrage and the immediate suspension of Nigeria from the ] as well as the withdrawal of many foreign diplomats from Nigeria.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.pbs.org/hopes/nigeria/story.html| work=PBS | title=Hopes on the Horizon_Africa in the 1990s_Nigeria | access-date=2014-12-14}}</ref> According to the ] President, these were the fastest executions in the West African nation's history.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/nigeria/11-11/ | work=CNN | title=Nigeria suspended from Commonwealth | access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref> Nigerian human rights activists and opposition groups had long urged the Commonwealth and the United States to impose economic sanctions on the Nigerian government. This they argued was the opportune time to "turn the screws on" Nigeria's military government by boycotting its oil. The United States, which buys half of Nigeria's oil, declined through a press statement.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/nigeria/11-11/ |work=CNN |title=Nigeria suspended from Commonwealth |access-date=2014-12-14}}</ref>


=== 1997–present ===
Compelling new evidence suggests the Nigerian military killed four Ogoni elders whose murders led to the execution of the playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. The evidence also reveals that the notorious military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Okuntimo, whose troops were implicated in other crimes, was in the pay of Shell at the time of the killings and was driven around in a Shell vehicle.<ref name="Ken Saro-Wiwa was fraqmed">{{cite web |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ken-sarowiwa-was-framed-secret-evidence-shows-2151577.html |title=Ken Saro-Wiwa was framed, secret evidence shows |last=Rowell |first=Andy |last2=Lubbers |first2=Eveline |date=December 5, 2010 |website=independent.co.uk |accessdate=20 December 2014}}</ref>
On January 4, 1998, Ogoni national day, the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force (RVISTF), arrested dozens of activists and raided several villages.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://africafocus.org/docs98/ogon9801.php |title=MOSOP Calls For Urgent Action |last=Chinwo |first=Ernest |date=January 12, 1998 |publisher=Africa Focus.org |access-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref>


=== 1997-Present === ==== Saro-Wiwa vs. Shell ====
{{Excerpt|Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Shell Co.}}
{{expand section|date=December 2014}}


==== Demands for Saro-Wiwa's exoneration ====
On January 4, 1998, Ogoni national day, the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force (RVISTF), arrests dozens of activists and raided several villages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://africafocus.org/docs98/ogon9801.php |title=PRESS RELEASE JANUARY 12th 1998 MOSOP CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION |last=Chinwo |first=Ernest |date=January 12, 1998 |website=africafocus.org |accessdate=20 December 2014}}</ref>
On November 10, 2014, MOSOP President Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, at the 19th anniversary commemoration of the "Ogoni Martyrs" held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, called on the federal government to clear the late activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the other nine Ogoni people executed by General Sani Abacha's government for murder. Pyagbara recalled that the UN, which monitored the trial of Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine, observed that the returned verdict did not follow any known local or international standard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201411111319.html |title=Nigeria: Clear Ken Saro-Wiwa, Others of Murder, MOSOP Urges Govt |last=Chinwo |first=Ernest |date=November 11, 2014 |website=allafrica.com |access-date=December 16, 2014}}</ref>


Compelling new evidence suggests the Nigerian military killed four Ogoni elders whose murders led to the execution of the playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. The evidence also reveals that the notorious military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Okuntimo, whose troops were implicated in other crimes, was in the pay of Shell at the time of the killings and was driven around in a Shell vehicle.<ref name="Ken Saro-Wiwa was fraqmed">{{cite web |last1=Rowell |first1=Andy |last2=Lubbers |first2=Eveline |date=December 5, 2010 |title=Ken Saro-Wiwa was framed, secret evidence shows |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ken-sarowiwa-was-framed-secret-evidence-shows-2151577.html |access-date=December 20, 2014 |website=independent.co.uk}}</ref>
==== Wiwa vs. Shell ====

On November 10, 2014, MOSOP President Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, at the 19th anniversary commemoration of the 'Ogoni Martyrs' held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, called on the federal government to clear the late activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the other nine Ogoni people executed by General Sani Abacha's government for murder. Pyagbara recalled that the UN, which monitored the trial of Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine, observed that the returned verdict did not follow any known local or international standard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201411111319.html |title=Nigeria: Clear Ken Saro-Wiwa, Others of Murder, MOSOP Urges Govt |last=Chinwo |first=Ernest |date=November 11, 2014 |website=allafrica.com |accessdate=16 December 2014}}</ref>


== See also == == See also ==
{{portal|Nigeria}} {{Portal|Nigeria}}
* ] * ]
* '']'' (related 2013 US Supreme Court case)
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*
*{{Official website|http://www.mosop.org/ }}
*
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{{UNPO}} {{UNPO}}
{{Royal Dutch Shell}}
{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 02:47, 25 December 2024

Nigerian indigenous organization

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2014)
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
AbbreviationMOSOP
Formation1990
FoundersKen Saro-Wiwa
TypeSocial Movement Organization
PurposeIndigenous rights of the Ogoni people
HeadquartersBori, Ogoni, Rivers State, Nigeria
Region Ogoniland
Membership
  • Ethnic Minority Rights Organization of Africa (EMIROAF)
  • Federation of Ogoni Women Association (FOWA)
  • National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP)
  • Ogoni Council of Churches (OCC)
  • Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers (COTRA)
  • Council of Ogoni Professionals (COP)
  • National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS)
  • Crisis Management Committee (CMC)
  • Ogoni Teachers Union
  • Ogoni Technical Association
  • Ogoni Central Indigenous Authority
PresidentLegborsi Saro Pyagbara
Affiliations
Award(s)Right Livelihood Award
Websitemosop.org

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), is a social movement organization representing the indigenous Ogoni people of Rivers State, Nigeria. The Ogoni contend that Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), along with other petroleum multinationals and the Nigerian government, have destroyed their environment, polluted their rivers, and provided no benefits in return for enormous oil revenues extracted from their lands.

MOSOP is an umbrella organization representing about 700,000 Ogoni in a non-violent campaign for environmental justice in the Niger Delta. Peaceful demonstrations led by MOSOP and other indigenous groups in the region have been brutally suppressed by the Nigerian Mobile Police. Thousands of Ogoni were killed, raped, beaten, detained, or exiled. The Ogoni's challenge to state power was finally put down through the judicial murder of Ogoni leaders, including spokesman and founder Ken Saro-Wiwa, in November 1995.

Oil was discovered in the Niger delta in 1957. MOSOP was founded in 1990 by Ken Saro-Wiwa and Ogoni chiefs when they presented the Ogoni Bill of Rights to the Federal government of Nigeria and to the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in Geneva.

The Ogoni uprising under the leadership of MOSOP was an early and non-violent phase of the conflict in the Niger Delta.

In 1994, MOSOP, along with founder Ken Saro-Wiwa, received the Right Livelihood Award for their exemplary courage in striving non-violently for the civil, economic and environmental rights of their people.

Background

The problems facing the Ogoni people find their origins in the British colonial era: the political borders of Nigeria are an extremely artificial creation of British colonialism, with the result that nearly 300 ethnic groups are arbitrarily consolidated into a single nation-state. The Ogoni people are an ethnic micro-minority with only 500,000 people in a country of more than two hundred million. Nigerian politics are dominated by the Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa–Fulani ethnic majorities. Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960, and has since been mostly ruled by unelected officials from these ethnic majorities. The Ogoni lack political power and constitutional protections to control their land or wealth taken from it. Other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta are also ethnic minorities.

Unequal distribution of oil benefits

Nigeria's national government is completely dependent on oil exports, with oil accounting for 80% of government revenue. Shell is the largest stakeholder, owning 47% of the national industry. The World Bank estimates that oil benefits accrue to only 1% of the general population. A 1995 Human Rights Watch interview with attorney Uche Onyeagocha documented that minority groups whose land is the source of over 90% of Nigeria's oil opposed the prevailing formula for allocating oil revenues, under which the federal, state, and local governments had almost complete discretion over the distribution of oil proceeds.

By 1995, Ogoniland hosted six oil fields, two oil refineries, and fertilizer and petrochemical plants. MOSOP estimated that $30 billion worth of oil had been extracted from their land within 30 years of discovered reserves, and they had received no benefits but borne the ecological damages of oil production including numerous spills; constant flaring of natural gas; and dumping of toxic waste.

Corruption

Former World Bank Vice-President for Africa, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, estimated that $400 billion of Nigeria's oil revenue was stolen or misspent from 1960 to 1999. A Nigerian anti-corruption agency estimated that around 70% of oil revenues were wasted or lost to corruption. Nuhu Ribadu's Task Force on Oil Revenue found that approximately $29 billion in oil and gas revenues were lost over a period of ten years from cut price deals struck between multinational oil companies and government officials. The report alleges international oil traders sometimes buy crude without any formal contracts, and the state oil firm had short-changed the Nigerian treasury by selling crude oil and gas to itself below market rates.

Environmental issues in the Niger Delta

Main article: Environmental issues in the Niger Delta

Beginning in the late 1950s, multinational oil companies began taking over land belonging to Indigenous farming and fishing communities in the Niger Delta, resulting in environmental devastation. MOSOP spokesman Ken Saro-Wiwa called it an 'ecological war':

The Ogoni country has been completely destroyed.... Oil blowouts, spillages, oil slicks, and general pollution accompany the search for oil.... Oil companies have flared gas in Nigeria for the past thirty three years causing acid rain.... What used to be the bread basket of the delta has now become totally infertile. All one sees and feels around is death. Environmental degradation has been a lethal weapon in the war against the indigenous Ogoni people.

Both Shell and Chevron have operated oil wells in Ogoniland.

Oil spills

Statistics from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) indicate that between 1976 and 1996 a total of 4,835 incidents resulted in the spillage of at over 2.4 million barrels of oil (102.7 million U.S. gallons), of which an estimated 1.9 million barrels (79.7 million U.S. gallons; 77 percent) were lost to the environment. Nigeria's largest spill was an offshore well blowout in January 1980, when at least 200,000 barrels of oil (8.4 million U.S. gallons), according to oil industry sources, spewed into the Atlantic Ocean from a Texaco facility and destroyed 340 hectares (840 acres) of mangroves. Mangrove forest is particularly vulnerable to oil spills, because the soil soaks up the oil like a sponge and re-releases it every rainy season. DPR estimated that more than 400,000 barrels (16.8 million U.S. gallons) were actually spilled in this incident. Water contamination of local water supply resulted in fish kills and ruinous effects on farmland.

Gas flaring

Nigeria flares more natural gas associated with oil extraction than any other country, with estimates about 70% is wasted by flaring. This is the equivalent to 40% of Africa's gas consumption in 2001. Statistical data associated with gas flaring are notoriously unreliable, but Nigeria may waste US$2 billion per year by flaring associated gas. Flaring is done, because it is costly to separate commercially viable associated gas from the oil. Companies operating in Nigeria also harvest natural gas for commercial purposes but prefer to extract it from deposits where it is found in isolation as non-associated gas. Thus associated gas is burned off to decrease costs.

Gas flares are potentially harmful to nearby communities, as they release poisonous chemicals including nitrogen dioxides, sulphur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, as well as carcinogens. These chemicals can aggravate asthma, cause breathing difficulties and pain, as well as chronic bronchitis.

Gas flares are often close to communities and regularly lack fencing or protection for villagers who risk working near their heat. Many communities claim that nearby flares cause acid rain which corrodes their homes and other structures, many of which have zinc-based roofing. Some people resort to using asbestos-based material, which is stronger in repelling acid rain deterioration. Unfortunately, asbestos exposure increases the risk of forming lung cancer, pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, and asbestosis.

Effects on Ogoni people

In describing the effects of these environmental damages upon his people, the President of MOSOP, Dr. Garrick Barile Leton stated in 1991 that,

Lands, streams and creeks are totally and continually polluted; the atmosphere is for ever charged with hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; many villages experience the infernal quaking of the wrath of gas flares which have been burning 24 hours a day for 33 years; acid rain, oil spillages and blowouts are common. The result of such unchecked environmental pollution and degradation are that (i) The Ogoni can no longer farm successfully. Once the food basket of the eastern Niger Delta, the Ogoni now buy food (when they can afford it); (ii) Fish, once a common source of protein, is now rare. Owing to the constant and continual pollution of our streams and creeks, fish can only be caught in deeper and offshore waters for which the Ogoni are not equipped. (iii) All wildlife is dead. (iv) The ecology is changing fast. The mangrove tree, the aerial roots of which normally provide a natural and welcome habitat for many a sea food – crabs, periwinkles, mudskippers, cockles, mussels, shrimps and all – is now being gradually replaced by unknown and otherwise useless plants. (v) The health hazards generated by an atmosphere charged with hydrocarbon vapour, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are innumerable.

Early protests

In 1970, Ogoni Chiefs and Elders of the Ogoni Divisional Commission (W. Nzidee, F. Yowika, N. Ndegwe, E. Kobani, O. Nalelo, Chief A. Ngei and O. Ngofa), submitted a petition to the local Military Governor as a formal complaint against Shell, then operating a joint venture with BP. It brought notice that the company was "seriously threatening the well-being, and even the very lives" of the Ogoni.

Shell's response was that the petition was an attempt to place development and other responsibilities on the company and that the "contentions ... bear little relation to what is actually taking place".

In July 1970, there was a major blow-out at the Bomu oil field in Ogoni, which continued for three weeks, causing widespread pollution and outrage. P. Badom, of the Dere Youths Association, issued a letter of protest, stating:

"Our rivers, rivulets and creeks are all covered with crude oil. We no longer breathe the natural oxygen, rather we inhale lethal and ghastly gases. Our water can no longer be drunk unless one wants to test the effect of crude oil on the body. We no longer use vegetables, they are all polluted."

The Iko people wrote to Shell in 1980 demanding "compensation and restitution of our rights to clean air, water and a viable environment where we can source for our means of livelihood".

In 1987, when the Iko once again held a peaceful demonstration against Shell, the Mobile Police Force (MPF) destroyed 40 houses, and 350 people were made homeless.

History

MOSOP was the outgrowth of such protests during the 1970s and 1980s. Ken Saro-Wiwa initiated the idea of MOSOP and attracted a mix of educated Ogoni elites and chiefs, including its first president Dr. Garrick Barile Leton. Goodluck Diigbo, President of the National Youth Council of Ogoni People, (NYCOP) established seven of the ten affiliates that made up MOSOP. Chief E. N. Kobani became vice president of MOSOP.

MOSOP's first effort was the 1990 Ogoni Bill of Rights addressed to the federal government, the people of Nigeria, and as an appeal to the international community. The Ogoni demands were: political autonomy to participate in the affairs of the Republic as a distinct and separate unit, provided that this autonomy guaranteed political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people; the right to control and use a fair proportion of Ogoni economic resources for Ogoni development; adequate representation in Nigerian national institutions; and the right to protect the Ogoni environment and ecology from further degradation. Military president Ibrahim Babangida, made no reply to these demands.

Ogoni Bill of Rights

In August 1990, the Ogoni elders signed the Ogoni Bill of Rights, demanding "political control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people, control and use of Ogoni economic resources for Ogoni development, adequate and direct representation as a right for Ogoni people in all Nigerian national institutions, and the right to protect the Ogoni environment and ecology from further degradation."

MOSOP presented the Bill of Rights to several parties: the Federal government of Nigeria; the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in Geneva; the UN sub-committee on Human Rights; the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights; and Greenpeace. The Ogoni case was also presented to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization in 1993.

They also stated that Shell bore “full responsibility for the genocide of the Ogoni.”

The Bill summaraised the sufferings of the Ogoni peoples and their political marginalisation and neglect by the government. They also defined themselves as "a separate and distinct ethnic nationality", and demanded participation in national affairs as "a distinct and separate unit".

The Ogoni Bill of Rights stated that:

The Ogoni people will make representation to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the effect that giving loans and credit to the Nigerian Government on the understanding that oil money will be used to repay such loans is to encourage the Nigerian government to continue to dehumanise the Ogoni people and to devastate the environment and ecology of the Ogoni and other delta minorities among whom oil is found. The Ogoni people will inform the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity that the Nigerian Constitution and the actions of the power elite in Nigeria flagrantly violate the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights; and that Nigeria in 1992 is no different from Apartheid South Africa. The Ogoni people will ask that Nigeria be duly chastised by both organizations for its inhuman actions and uncivilized behaviour. And if Nigeria persists in its perversity, then it should be expelled from both organizations.

Early uprisings 1990–93

Umuechem protests

In late October, 1990, protests at a Shell facility in the Umuechem community of Etche brought the situation in the Niger Delta to international attention. In anticipation of the protests, Shell requested the presence of the paramilitary MPF, who killed approximately 80 unarmed demonstrators and destroyed or severely damaged 495 houses. A government inquiry later found that villagers posed no threat and concluded that the MPF's violence was in "reckless disregard for lives and property.”

Ogoni uprising

From 1990 to 1993, MOSOP responded to the failure of previous petitions to elicit a response from the government or the oil companies by increasingly asserting their right to self-determination and their right to confront the oil companies directly. MOSOP leaders campaigned amongst various local clans and mounted media campaigns, promising monetary compensation for damages if their campaign succeeded.

In 1992, the conflict escalated as MOSOP demanded that Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Chevron, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), pay $10 billion in compensation to Ogoni people, immediately stop environmental degradation, and negotiate with Ogoni people to reach acceptable terms for further oil extraction. If the companies failed to comply within 30 days, the Ogonis threatened mass action to disrupt their operations. By this act, the Ogonis shifted the focus of their actions from an unresponsive federal government to oil companies actively engaged in their own region.

Shell withdrawal

In January 1993, the national government responded by banning public gatherings and declaring that disturbances of oil production were acts of treason. In spite of the ban, MOSOP went ahead with a massive public mobilization on January 4, 1993. The event, called the first Ogoni Day, attracted about 300,000 people in massive festivities. Saro-wiwa and other MOSOP leaders were arrested. Over the next month as the mobilization continued, a Shell employee was beaten by an Ogoni mob. As a security measure, Shell Petroleum Development Company withdrew its employees from Ogoniland. Oil extraction from the territory slowed to 10,000 barrels per day (1,600 m/d) (.5% of the national total).

In June, 1993 the Ogoni boycotted Presidential elections.

Ogoni-Andoni violence

On July 9 At least 60 Ogoni people are killed, allegedly by Andoni, when arriving back from the Cameroon Republic by boat. This "incident" marks the beginning of Ogoni-Andoni violence. August 5 – Kaa is the first village attacked in the Andoni-Ogoni conflict, resulting in 33 deaths and 8,000 refugees. Over the coming months, similar incidents occur in over 20 other villages. MOSOP accuses Shell of being behind the Andoni-Ogoni violence.

Execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine (1994)

Main article: Ogoni Nine

On May 21, 1994, four Ogoni chiefs (all on the conservative side of a schism within MOSOP over strategy) were murdered. Saro-Wiwa (head of the radical faction), was detained in connection with the killings, although he had been denied entry to Ogoniland on the day of the murders. Rivers State Military Administrator Lt. Col. Dauda Komo did not wait for a judicial investigation to blame the killings on "irresponsible and reckless thuggery of the MOSOP element".

Witnesses said that Rivers State Internal Security engaged in terror operations against the general Ogoni population while claiming to search for people responsible for the killings of the four Ogoni leaders. Amnesty International characterized the policy as deliberate terrorism. By mid-June, 30 villages had been completely destroyed, 600 people had been detained, and at least 40 had been killed. An eventual total of around 100,000 internal refugees and an estimated 2,000 civilian deaths was recorded.

Arrest and summary execution of Ogoni nine

Ken Saro-Wiwa, N. G. Dube, and Kobari Nwilewas were arrested in Port Harcourt on June 21, 1993. The three were charged on 13 July 1993 with six counts relating to unlawful assembly, seditious intention and seditious publication. Bail was not set and all three remanded in custody until September 20.

On November 10, 1995, nine activists from the movement, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpunien, Baribor Bera, Saturday Dobee, Felix Nwate, Nordu Eawo, Paul Levura, and Daniel Gbokoo along Ken Saro-Wiwa, were hanged 10 days after being convicted by the Nigerian government on charges of "incitement to murder" of the four Ogoni leaders. In the final address to the military-appointed tribunal, Saro-Wiwa describes the actions of Shell Corporation as war crimes against the Ogoni People:

I repeat that we all stand before history. I and my colleagues are not the only ones on trial. Shell is here on trial and it is as well that it is represented by counsel said to be holding a watching brief. The Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it for there is no doubt in my mind that the ecological war that the Company has waged in the Delta will be called to question sooner than later and the crimes of that war be duly punished. The crime of the Company's dirty wars against the Ogoni people will also be punished.

Excerpt from: Trial Speech of Ken Saro-Wiwa  – via Wikisource.

An anonymous interview revealed a first hand telling of that day and the events that took place;

Everywhere was quiet and then on the morning of May 21st ... as we woke up in the morning most of the Ogoni communities were filled with soldiers and mobile policemen armed with sophisticated weapons. We don’t (sic) know why they just came, it was only when four prominent Ogoni sons were killed later in the afternoon of that day that we in Ogoni ever knew that there was a grand design to cause disturbances in Ogoni in order to create an excuse for the government to send in more troops

International response

Saro-Wiwa's death provoked international outrage and the immediate suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations as well as the withdrawal of many foreign diplomats from Nigeria. According to the Nigerian Medical Association's President, these were the fastest executions in the West African nation's history. Nigerian human rights activists and opposition groups had long urged the Commonwealth and the United States to impose economic sanctions on the Nigerian government. This they argued was the opportune time to "turn the screws on" Nigeria's military government by boycotting its oil. The United States, which buys half of Nigeria's oil, declined through a press statement.

1997–present

On January 4, 1998, Ogoni national day, the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force (RVISTF), arrested dozens of activists and raided several villages.

Saro-Wiwa vs. Shell

This section is an excerpt from Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Shell Co..
Protest in Washington, D.C. against the killing of Saro-Wiwa and others, November 1995

The Wiwa family lawsuits against Royal Dutch Shell were three separate lawsuits brought in 1996 by the family of Ken Saro-Wiwa against Royal Dutch Shell, its subsidiary Shell Nigeria and the subsidiary's CEO Brian Anderson. Charges included human rights abuses against the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta, summary execution, torture, arbitrary arrest, and wrongful death. After 12 years of Shell petitioning the court not to hear the cases, they were heard 26 May 2009.

On June 8, 2009, Shell settled out-of-court with the Saro-Wiwa family for $15.5 million.

Demands for Saro-Wiwa's exoneration

On November 10, 2014, MOSOP President Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, at the 19th anniversary commemoration of the "Ogoni Martyrs" held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, called on the federal government to clear the late activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the other nine Ogoni people executed by General Sani Abacha's government for murder. Pyagbara recalled that the UN, which monitored the trial of Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine, observed that the returned verdict did not follow any known local or international standard.

Compelling new evidence suggests the Nigerian military killed four Ogoni elders whose murders led to the execution of the playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. The evidence also reveals that the notorious military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Okuntimo, whose troops were implicated in other crimes, was in the pay of Shell at the time of the killings and was driven around in a Shell vehicle.

See also

References

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  2. "Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)". ESCR-Net. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  3. ^ "Nigeria, The Ogoni Crisis, Vol. 7, No. 5". Human Rights Watch. July 1995. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  4. ^ Osaghae, Eghosa E. (1995). "The Ogoni Uprising: Oil Politics, Minority Agitation and the Future of the Nigerian State". African Affairs. 94 (376): 325–344. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098833. ISSN 0001-9909. JSTOR 723402.
  5. ^ Agbonifo, John (2009). "Oil, Insecurity, and Subversive Patriots in the Niger Delta: The Ogoni as Agent of Revolutionary Change". Journal of Third World Studies. 26 (2): 71–106. ISSN 8755-3449. JSTOR 45194563.
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