Ogoni women reject planned resumption of oil extraction in Ogoniland

A coalition of 17 Ogoni women groups in Rivers State has opposed the federal government’s proposed resumption of crude oil extraction in Ogoniland.

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The coalition, comprised of thousands of Ogoni women, made its position known in a news conference in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

It insisted that implementing the Ogoni Bill of Rights must be a precondition for oil-related activities in the area.

President Bola Tinubu recently met with Ogoni leaders to discuss the recommencement of oil operations, which had been suspended since 1993 due to widespread unrest caused by environmental pollution.

The initiative is part of efforts to increase the nation’s oil production to over two million barrels per day by December.

Grievances

Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Barileloo Patricia, programme coordinator, gender and livelihood at Lekeh Development Foundation, criticised the government’s approach.

She condemned the plan to resume oil extraction after 30 years without first addressing the long-standing environmental devastation in Ogoniland.

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“It is disconcerting that, amid the rush to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland, the concerns outlined in the Ogoni Bill of Rights – which led to the suspension of oil extraction – have not been addressed,” Mrs Patricia stated.

She explained that the Ogoni Bill of Rights, adopted in 1990, was a declaration of the Ogoni people’s demand for environmental protection and self-determination.

According to her, the proposed resumption of oil activities was destined to fail as justice has not yet been secured for the countless families who lost lives, livelihoods, and property in the 1990s crises.

“The atrocities committed against the Ogoni people by the Nigerian security forces remain one of the worst attacks on an indigenous population in Nigeria’s history.

“Those responsible for genocide and human rights abuses against unarmed populations have never been brought to justice, despite openly boasting about their actions.

“For most Ogonis, the events of the 1990s remain an open and painful wound, still awaiting healing through truth and justice,” Mrs Patricia added.

Ogoni clean-up

Also speaking, Lezina Ntetep, the coordinator of Eedee Ladies of Tai, questioned the government’s decision to restart oil exploration while the clean-up of Ogoni’s polluted sites remains incomplete.

She reminded the government that in 2012, it established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to implement the 2011 UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on oil contamination in Ogoniland.

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Mrs Ntetep said it was a deep concern that the government was pushing for oil resumption when the environmental damage from past extraction remained unaddressed and that the UNEP recommendations were yet to be fully implemented.

“How can a site supposedly being cleaned up be deemed fit for a full-scale oil extraction, with all the pollution that comes with it?” she asked.

Mrs Ntetep further highlighted the suffering the Ogoni people endured due to oil extraction, with little or no development to show for it.

“No apology has been made for the destruction of our environment, the killing of our people, the loss of livelihoods, the destruction of our villages, and the murder of our leaders, among others.

“To assume that oil extraction can commence while these injustices remain unresolved is naïve at best and cruel at worst,” she stated.

The coalition urged the government to halt the planned resumption of oil activities in Ogoniland and instead focus on addressing the ecological disaster in the area.

The group further called for the implementation of UNEP’s clean-up recommendations, decommissioning aged oil infrastructure, providing alternative livelihoods for the people and securing justice for the countless Ogonis who still await closure.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the coalition includes the Mba Okase Initiative, Eedee Ladies of Tai, De Voice of Eleme Women Association, and League of Queens International.

Others are Gbogbia Feefeelo Women, Lekeh Foundation, We The People, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Concern Ogoni Daughter, Peoples Advancement Centre, and Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative, among others.