Pointing that the Ogoni people have much expected relief due to the promise the president made during his campaign to implement the cleanup in Ogoni land, the spokesperson said: “At the inception of this administration, we had anticipated some relief for the Ogoni people, not only because the new president had during his campaign pledged to implement the clean-up of Ogoniland, but had expected that the clean-up will open discussions on crucial issues affecting Ogoni
The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni Pople, MOSOP, have accused the Federal government of not being committed to the development of their oil producing community.
The spokesperson of MOSOP, Mr. Fegalo Nsuke, in a statement released yesterday in Port Harcourt, asked the federal government to address the injustice against the people of Ogoni land.
Pointing that the Ogoni people have much expected relief due to the promise the president made during his campaign to implement the cleanup in Ogoni land, the spokesperson said: “At the inception of this administration, we had anticipated some relief for the Ogoni people, not only because the new president had during his campaign pledged to implement the clean-up of Ogoniland, but had expected that the clean-up will open discussions on crucial issues affecting Ogoni.
“The lessons from Ogoni clearly show how much injustice is pervasive in our country. The shame is that rather than address these injustices, our country and our government have attempted to deceive the world about the true situation in Ogoniland.
“Today in Ogoniland, some villages bury as many as 13 persons in a week. When you relate this to some parts of our country, where you do not hear of deaths in one year, except for very old people, you will appreciate the reality of the danger faced by the Ogoni people.”
The Ogoni community is reported to have experienced almost 3,000 oil spills during a 15-year period from 1976 to 1991, bringing untold hardships on the people of the area.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday November 7 2017, reaffirmed government's commitment to the clean-up when he presented N8.612 trillion appropriation bill for 2018 to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The people of the Ogoni community however said the President has failed fulfil the promises that he made to the Ogoni community during his campaign at the 2015 election.
This was inspite of the kick off of cleaup of Ogoniland by the Federal Government about two years ago.