Ogoni groups reject oil exploration resumption, demand cleanup, compensation

Twenty civil society organisations and rights groups have rejected plans to resume oil production in Ogoniland, Rivers State, insisting that environmental cleanup, compensation and justice for affected communities must precede any fresh exploration.

The groups said decades of oil pollution, human rights abuses and economic hardship had left communities struggling with the consequences of petroleum activities, warning that reopening oil wells without addressing the damage could expose residents to another cycle of environmental destruction.

The organisations made their position known at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, where they questioned the Federal Government's commitment to environmental recovery amid moves to restart oil production in the area.

Their opposition comes 30 years after the execution of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders, whose struggle against environmental degradation and injustice brought international attention to the plight of the oil-producing community.

The groups argued that the proposed resumption of oil production was moving faster than the environmental remediation process, leaving affected communities uncertain about their future.

For decades, oil exploration in Ogoniland has been associated with polluted waterways, contaminated farmlands and the destruction of livelihoods, with residents continuing to demand lasting solutions to the environmental damage.

Speaking at the briefing, Celestine Akpobari, Executive Director of the Miidekor Environmental Development Initiative, raised concerns about the implications of reopening oil wells before affected communities had received adequate environmental and social redress.

Emem Okon of the Kebekache Women Development Centre and Kentebe Ebiaridor, Programme Officer of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, also addressed the concerns surrounding the proposed resumption.

The groups equally questioned plans to establish new oil wells across the Niger Delta, arguing that the region should not be subjected to further exploration while existing environmental problems remain unresolved.

Concerns were also raised about the funding of the ongoing Ogoni cleanup exercise.

The President of the Ogoni Youth Development Initiative, Saviour Oscar, alleged that the Federal Government had yet to fulfil its counterpart funding obligations for the remediation programme.

His concerns centred on the government's commitment to sustaining the cleanup process and ensuring that resources needed for environmental recovery were made available.

Also speaking, Ken Hensaw, Director of We The People, and Friday Nbani, Director of the Lekeh Foundation, joined other campaigners in highlighting the need to prioritise the welfare and rights of Ogoni communities.

The organisations maintained that oil production should not take precedence over the health, safety and economic wellbeing of residents who have endured years of environmental degradation.

They insisted that meaningful environmental recovery must include the restoration of polluted land and waterways, adequate compensation for affected communities and justice for victims of past abuses.

For residents of Ogoniland, the campaigners said, the controversy goes beyond the economic benefits of oil production.

They argued that communities must be able to breathe clean air, access safe drinking water and pursue their livelihoods without the threat of renewed environmental destruction.

The groups therefore called for environmental justice to remain central to decisions on the future of oil exploration in Ogoniland and the wider Niger Delta.