Nigerian environmentalists on Tuesday condemned a government plan to resume oil production in the restive Ogoniland, demanding a halt until meaningful talks with local communities are completed.
Ogoniland, in Nigeria’s coastal Rivers state, is a flashpoint for pollution in the oil-rich Niger River delta region where a $1 billion cleanup was launched in 2018 following a comprehensive 2011 United Nations Environmental Programme study.
More than 20 groups, including Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, and the Ogoni Solidarity Forum have criticised the plan, saying it disregards the environmental and social damage caused by decades of oil extraction.
In a 14-point demand issued on Tuesday, the groups slammed the government for initiating talks with a select group from the region, arguing it undermines efforts towards environmental justice and a cleanup of the heavily polluted environment.
“This decision disregards the enduring environmental, social, and economic injustices faced by the Ogoni people and undermines efforts toward sustainable development, environmental justice, community empowerment, and cleanup of the devastated environment,” the groups said in a statement.
Ogoniland locals have a storied history of resistance to oil extraction on their land. Their struggle gained international attention in the 1990s with the execution of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders by the then-Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.
They are also calling for a $1 trillion commitment for clean-up and compensation, the immediate release of a confiscated Saro-Wiwa memorial sculpture, and a full implementation of the U.N. report that recommended a comprehensive clean-up of Ogoniland.
“We stand in solidarity with the Ogoni people in their fight for justice and sustainable development,” the groups concluded.
A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
