UNEP Report: Ogonis Blast FG, Block East-West Road

Vehicular movement along the Eleme axis of the East/West Road was yesterday disrupted, resulting in heavy traffic grid lock, following a mass protest by the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) over the non implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report by the Federal Government.

Placard carrying youths and women from the four local Government Areas of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme thronged the road causing heavy blockade and chanting solidarity songs to press home their demands.

Some of the placards carried inscription such as; “Jonathan scrap HYPREP, create Ogoni Environmental Authority” “Our Environment is our life,” Restore UN decision now” among others.

The teeming protesters accused the Federal Government of blackmail and conspiracy against the Ogonis, pointing out that the Ogonis will not compromise the stipulated terms of the UNEP report.

The protest conducted simultaneously across the World by Ogonis was part of activities to mark the 2013 edition of the World Human Rights Day.

MOSOP President, Mr. Legborsi Pyagbara who led the protest along the Ogoni axis of the East/West road, said the refusal by the Federal Government to implement the UNEP report, two years after its release amounted to genocide against the Ogoni people.

The MOSOP President decried the continuous despoliation of the Ogoni natural environment, which he said had denied the people of their natural right to meaningful existence.

Describing the environment as man’s first right, the MOSOP President called for the immediate and full implementation of the UNEP report, stating that the Federal Government’s antics on the sensitive issue, amounted to politisation of the report.

Pyagbara also lamented the absence of Federal Government projects in Ogoni, adding that Ogonis had over the years suffered untold deprivation by the Federal Government.

He emphasised that the refusal of the Federal Government to implement the UNEP report, was an indication that the Federal Government was not ready to respond to the imperatives of justice in Ogoni.

Speaking with The Tide in a telephone interview, the Executive Director of the Ogonis in Diaspora Organisation, (ODO) based in the United States, Chief Ambrose Kii, flayed the Federal Government over the non-implementation of the UNEP report.

Chief Kii, said the Ogonis as a resilient group decided to embark on the peaceful protest in line with MOSOP directives, and pointed out that the protest, was to draw attention to the insensitivity of the Federal Government.

Kii also called for the creation of Bori State, based on economic viability and the principles of justice, noting that Ogonis had contributed in no mean measure to the development of the Nigerian state.

Maenwhile, oil workers under the platform of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN and its affiliate body, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers of Nigeria, (NUPENG), yesterday protested against the planned sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery by the Federal Government.

PENGASSAN, called on the Federal Government to begin the turn around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery.

The State Chairman of PENGASSAN, Comrade Fidelis Ighodaye who led a peaceful rally along the refinery area in Eleme Local Government Area against the planned sale of the refinery to private investors also said that due to the routine maintenance of the refinery by the ad-hoc staff, the facility presently can work up to 60 per cent capacity.

Ighodayo therefore appealed to the Federal Government to ensure the supply of crude to the refinery to enable it begin refining of crude products for local consumption.

The Tide learnt that the, Rivers State chapter of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, P-MAN also staged a protest over their alleged exclusion from the forth-coming non-payment of their allowances in the Rivers State Carnival, popularly called CARNIRIV by the Director-General of the State Tourism Development Agency, Mr. Sam Dede.

Taneh Beemene

Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo (left), receiving special merit award and fellowship conferment from the President, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Mr Mustafa Shehu, at the opening of the 2013 International Engineering Conference, Exhibition and Annual General Meeting in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN