Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — A former President of MOSOP and Executive Director of the African Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development, AIFES, Mr. Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, has dragged the Federal Government to the United Nations, over confiscation of $300million compensation funds released for the people of Ogoni.
Pyagbara while addressing the 54th session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, said the $300million was released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL in early 2023, as compensation to the people of Ogoni and was being withheld by the Rivers State Government.
The former MOSOP leader called on the United Nations to take every necessary step to ensure that the money is paid to the Ogoni people, saying that the current situation in Ogoniland resonates with the Report of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, EMRIP on Militarization, Investment and Threats.
The Ogoni leader also accused the Federal Government of failing to launch investigations into the killing of over 5,000 Ogoni sons and daughters by the military, and refusing to pay reparations for the lives that were lost due to the militarization of Ogoniland.
He said, “The case of Ogoni people came into limelight in 1995, with the hanging of the leader of Ogoni and Environmental activist, Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists by the Nigerian government to protect the interest of Shell and their collaborators in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian government has not opened investigation into the killing of 5,000 Ogoni persons in the period when Ogoniland was militarized, leading to the killing of Ogoni nine and thereafter.
“The reparation programmes even as recommended by UN Secretary General’s Fact-finding Team to Ogoni, has not been done to the Ogoni people even at this moment. The expert mechanism report had highlighted reparation as one way to provide any redress.
“I urged the UN Human Rights Council to prevail on Nigerian government led by President Bola Tinubu, to release the sum of $300million paid by NNPC Ltd. through NPDC, as compensation to the people of Ogoni which is currently being held by the Rivers State Government.”
Pyagabara further urged the United Nations to blacklist governments and companies involved in militarizing indigenous people and territories with grave consequences on human rights and livelihoods.
“We call for blacklisting and denouncing of states, companies and governments involved in militarization as a tool for climate change mitigation,” the former MOSOP leader said.
