SAN FRANCISCO, July 29, (THEWILL) – The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has deplored what it described as a case of environmental terrorism against the Ogoni people of Rivers State.
The group therefore called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately commence the cleanup of Ogoniland in particular and the Niger Delta Region in general as recommended by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) study on Ogoniland.
In a statement issued Tuesday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by the Public Relations Officer of MOSOP, Mr. Legborsi Esaen, the group lamented that three years after the UNEP study on Ogoniland was submitted to the Presidency, nothing has been done on its recommendation.
“August 4, 2014 will make it precisely three years since the detailed report of the United Nations Environmental Programme study on Ogoniland was submitted to the Presidency. Our non-violent approach has been our strength and weakness. Strength for the support and commitment of the international community to our cause and weakness in a system where only violence and criminality are rewarded,” the statement said.
MOSOP said were a study to be conducted in other parts of the Niger Delta , a similar or not too far-fetched report will also be gotten.
“To the authorities, peace and stability in Niger Delta simply means uninterrupted flow of the black gold from the area. My grouse with our brothers that carried arms against the state is that it was for selfish reasons.
Amnesty as it were, was just one of the many recommendations of the Ledum Mitee led Niger Delta Technical Commitee. “The arms have been laid down and I suppose Amnesty has solved our many problems as a people. Well, it’s not. So what happened to this report and all the fantastic recommendations ?” the statement asked.
MOSOP said further: “The call for the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland is already stale news since it is un-officially our new Ogoni anthem in the last three years. For how long should the government allow our oil and gas deposits untapped?
“Well, for as long as our environment is not cleaned up and the UNEP report remains un-implemented. This is an un-written agreement every Ogoni son and daughter have endorsed.
Ogoni with a little over a million people at home, with about 60 percent of the population resident in our villages where the effect of the pollution is extremely high.
“Of most immediate concern is the fact that our community members are still drinking water daily from wells contaminated with benzene, a known carcinogen, at levels over 900 times above the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline and 1,000 times above Nigerian drinking water standards.
“Benzene was detected in all air samples at concentrations ranging from 0.155 to 48.2 g/m3. Approximately 10 per cent of detected benzene concentrations in Ogoniland were higher than the concentrations WHO and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) report as corresponding to one in 10,000 cancer risks.”
According to the statement, “In 49 samples tested, UNEP observed severe contamination with hydrocarbons in soil at depths of at least 5m. In other sites, up to 8 cm layer of refined oil was observed floating on the groundwater, which serves the community wells – their source of drinking water. In at least seven wells examined, the hydrocarbon contamination is at least 1,000 times higher than the Nigerian drinking water standard of 3 g/l. Surface water throughout the creeks in the area also contains high levels of hydrocarbons. “This is a case of environmental terrorism. Presently, the death rate of our brothers at the grassroots is very high with very limited cancer screening centres in Nigeria, may God help us.”
MOSOP lamented that “Despite the unanimous call for the implementation of the report by all Ogonis, a greater percentage of our people neither have a copy of the report nor have been privileged to study the report.”
It said “ Without exaggeration, about 40 percent of Ogonis are illiterates, and of the remaining 60 percent , not more than 30 percent are currently in possession of the report despite the fact that the report is available on the internet for free download. What is the percentage of our computer literacy? “My humble suggestion is that there is urgent need to reproduce this report in English and possibly our local languages and distribute freely to every son and daughter of Ogoni in particular and Niger Delta at large to further increase the awareness of the environmental challenges and the associated risks we are currently living with.”
MOSOP noted that the UNEP report is supposedly a litmus test of the level of pollution in every part of Niger Delta, saying if the same study is conducted in any part of the region, a result not too far fetched from that of the Ogonis will be obtained. “Premised on this fact, I call on our brother , the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to remember the sacrifice and contributions of the Ogonis to the sympathy, prominence and recognition the Niger Delta as a people/ region currently enjoys today which is also a factor that also added to his ‘goodluck’ to push him this far and please commence the immediate clean up of Ogoniland in particular and the Niger Delta Region in general,” the statement said.
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