Ogoni oil talks: MOSOP alleges secret drilling, demands halt

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni has alleged that secret drilling of crude oil has begun in some Ogoni communities, whereas talks between the Federal Government and representatives of the people on the planned resumption of oil exploration in the area are still ongoing.

MOSOP said the Ogoni people have embraced the idea of oil resumption because of the integrity of its leaders involved in the talks but said reports of alleged compromise and alleged corruption are worrisome.

Also, MOSOP said it wanted the names of 40 Ogoni youths employed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited published for the sake of transparency, alleging that names of foreigners were smuggled onto the list.

This was contained in a statement released in Port Harcourt on Sunday by the Secretary-General of MOSOP, Stephen Nmane, and sent to newsmen.

Nmane specifically said oil drilling had been noticed in Ogoni communities in Tai and Eleme local government areas without the knowledge of the people, saying MOSOP condemned any forced re-entry into Ogoni, describing it as a betrayal of the spirit of the dialogue process.

The statement was titled ‘Alarming Compromise of The Ogoni Oil Production Resumption Process: The Reported Massive Corruption of Leaders of The ODC’.

“It is appalling as it is disappointing that while dialogue between Abuja and Ogoni is ongoing, preliminary oil production is operationalised in parts of Ogoni by the Federal Government without the consent and social licence of the Ogoni community.

“In Ban-Ogoi and Alesa-Eleme areas, oil drilling with its attendant health and environmental toxicity is ongoing.

“To us, this is in bad faith as it betrayed the godly spirit of the dialogue.

“Therefore, we cannot but condemn this forced re-entry through the back door. Thus, we demand immediate halt of the operations and the needful done,” the statement read.

It added, “The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, is alarmed at a damning report circulating in Ogoni and across social media platforms, alleging massive economic corruption of some key leaders of the Ogoni oil resumption dialogue process.

“This is most concerning as it is at the expense of our people. Since the allegations impugn the credibility and trustworthiness of these facilitators, the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC) and its leadership, MOSOP would urge the body to publicly clear its name of the weighty allegations.

“It equally warned of dire consequences as Ogoni will not sit idly by while accrued benefits to the community are illicitly cornered by a greedy, heartless few pretending to work for our common good.

“Notwithstanding acknowledged doubtful integrity of some of these leaders, our people had embraced the process in the hope that envisaged opportunities offered would create enduring succour.

“The feeling that the hope would not materialise owing to corruption, occasioning anger and tension, is understandable. Hence, we call on the people to remain calm and law-abiding while efforts are made to address the issues.

“Saddeningly, information available to MOSOP indicates that some bigwigs of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee had been compromised to facilitate the re-entry. In fact, Ogoni youths who had protested at the operational bases reported that engineers at these sites told them to approach an ODC chieftain instead.

“Furthermore, the report also implicated the ODC facilitators in other shoddy deals. It revealed their involvement in another multi-million-dollar oil pipeline contract to be executed across Ogoni oil fields preparatory to oil resumption proper.”

It warned the Federal Government and investors interested in investing in Ogoni to be wary of predators.

“We would further counsel against hasty agreement with anyone or group without appropriate due diligence, as such will not be binding on us.

“We wish to make it categorically clear that all entered agreements on behalf of Ogoni are shoddy, unacceptable, and null and void,” the statement added.