Ogoni women threaten nude protest over oil exploration
Women from the Ogoni ethnic nationality in Rivers State have vowed to protest nude if the Federal Government goes ahead with the move to resume oil extraction in the area, without addressing what they term key issues in the area.
This was revealed in a statement jointly signed by 15 women groups in Ogoni, including ‘Mba Okase Initiative, Eedee Ladies of Tai, De Voice of Eleme Women Association, League of Queens International, Gbogbia Feefee Women, Lekeh Foundation, We the People under the auspices of ‘Ogoni Women Coalition for Sustainable Environment’.
Others are; KEBETKACHE Women Development and Resource Centre, Global Concern Women and Youth Development Initiative, Miikeekor Environmental Development Initiative, Concern Ogoni Daughter, Peoples Advancement Centre, Ogoni Women Coalition for Sustainable Environment, Yerebaneko Women Group Tai and Ogoni Women Development Initiative.
The women in the statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday said they would not allow the resumption of oil activities in their area until the key issues that led to the discontinuation of oil exploration in the area in the 90s were addressed.
They further said the area was not ripe and ready for oil exploration without the fundamental issues being addressed, even as they alleged that the women were being excluded in the ongoing oil resumption talks.
Meanwhile, fielding questions from newsmen, the Leader of Mba Okase Initiative, Dr Mrs Patience Osaroejiji, said women of Ogoni are ready to go nude in protest to get the world’s attention if the apex government go ahead with its plan to resume oil exploration without looking into the issues that cost the death of a generation of Ogoni leaders.
According to Osaroejiji, “If as we have taken position today and the government goes ahead to resume, we the women of Ogoni will come out en masse and protest naked until the world hears us.”
Osaroejiji regretted that the women of Ogoni are not duly represented in the ongoing consultations in the area, adding that women are being neglected.
On jet part, Lezina Pat Ntetep, who is the Coordinator of Eedee Ladies of Tai, while reading the statement tagged “Ogoni Oil Again in the Eye of the Storm, Ogoni Women Stand Against Oil Resumption in their Land”, said Ogoni women and their communities have for decades endured the impacts of the industry’s adverse activities.
Ntetep stated that the federal government has not addressed issues raised in the Ogoni Bill of Rights which led to the stopping of oil business in the area, adding that oil exploration would resume only when key issues in the area are addressed.
“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.
“Similarly, 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.
“It is worrying why the government will decide to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland when the pollution of the last decades is yet to be cleaned and the recommendations of UNEP are yet to be fully complied with, ” she stated.
Continuing, Ntetep said, “Flowing 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 Ogoni waiting for closure.”
