Ogoni women express concern over oil spills

A coalition of Ogoni women have raised concern over 2,976 oil spills recorded in their communities in the past 15 years and threatened to resist every effort made by the federal government to resume oil production and exploration activities in their communities. The women said it will mobilise all Ogoni women to go on full nude […]

A coalition of Ogoni women have raised concern over 2,976 oil spills recorded in their communities in the past 15 years and threatened to resist every effort made by the federal government to resume oil production and exploration activities in their communities.

The women said it will mobilise all Ogoni women to go on full nude protest to resist resumption of oil exploration and production activities.

The group spokesperson, Mrs Lezina Ntentep who stated this said that the oil spill occurred in a 15 years period between 1976 and 1991 and that the poor state of their environment is not conducive enough to guarantee safe oil production and exploration activities.

Ntentep said that Ogoni land witnessed the first major oil spill in 1970 arising from an error by Shell saying that the spill continued for 3 whole weeks with devastating consequences for the livelihood of the people.

She said in a statement issued in Port Harcourt that the women of Ogoni ethnic nationality have borne the brunt of oil exploration activities in their respective communities.

Ntentep said the ongoing frenzy to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland, the concerns raised in the Bill of Rights, which led to the termination of oil extraction and the repression of the people, have not been addressed.

She said that no attempt was made to secure justice for the countless families of Ogonis that lost lives, livelihoods and properties in what she said is still the worst attack on a peaceful indigenous population by Nigerian security forces.

She noted that the persons who committed acts of genocide and abuses against unarmed populations, and boasted publicly about it, have not been brought to justice.

The women explained that in 1970, Ogoniland witnessed Nigeria’s first major oil spill arising from an error by Shell, a spill that continued for 3 whole weeks with devastating consequences for the livelihoods of the people. Since then, oil spills and blowouts have occurred on a regular basis in Ogoniland. Estimates show that in the 15-year period between 1976 and 1991, there were 2,976 recorded oil spills in Ogoniland.

Adding that at the resumption in their land in 1958, Ogoniland emerged as a focal area within Nigeria’s growing oil economy, contributing major revenues to the country’s economy.

“Unfortunately, the benefits from oil resources have not reached Ogoni people, particularly the women in any significant measure. Rather, Ogoni women and its communities have for decades borne the impacts of the industry’s adverse activities,” she said.

“It was this level of neglect and ecological destruction, which led to the adoption of the 1990 Ogoni Bill of Rights, a landmark document demanding the right of the Ogoni people to protect their environment and ecology from further degradation. Among others, the Bill describes the Ogoni case as a ‘genocide being committed in the dying years of the twentieth century by multi-national oil companies under the supervision of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

“From the foregoing, it is our recommendation that the government puts a stop to any planned attempt to resume oil activities in Ogoniland. It should rather concentrate on redeeming the ecological disaster in the area, decommissioning aged oil infrastructure, replacing the lost livelihood of the people and securing justice for the countless Ogonis waiting for closure.

“It is disconcerting that in the ongoing frenzy to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland, the concerns raised in the Bill of Rights which led to the termination of oil extraction and the repression of the people, have not been addressed”.

The women noted that there has been no attempt to secure justice for the countless families that lost lives, livelihoods and properties in what is still the worst attack on a peaceful indigenous population by Nigerian security forces.

“Persons who committed acts of genocide and abuses against unarmed populations, and boasted publicly about it, have still not been brought to justice.”

Reacting, the spokesperson for the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Micheal Adande said Shell has a continuing commitment to Nigeria, its people and the economy.

He said where Shell operates  brings  jobs, supports local supply chains and invests in the education and healthcare people rely on, as well as providing billions of dollars in income to the Nigerian government.

He said the company strongly believes in the merits of its case that Oil is being stolen on an industrial scale in the Niger Delta.