MOSOP Insists On Clean-Up Of Ogoniland

The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has insisted that no oil company will be welcomed into Ogoniland without the clean-up of the area.
The Publicity secretary of the organisation, Mr. Fegalo Nsuke who said in a telephone interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt also said that the organisation will not succumb to the antics of some oil companies which are busy creating divisions in Ogoniland.
Nsuke said that the position of Ogoni people as encapsulated in the Ogoni Bill of Rights is well known, stressing that the Ogonis will not allow prospecting or resumption of crude oil and gas production in their land until the mess of previous years is cleaned up.
What the oil companies are doing is to sponsor more groups to cause trouble in Ogoniland.
The main issue is that we will not allow any oil company to come to our land without the cleanup as we are ready to confront any oil company that comes to the area without due process.
He also said that the present division of Ogonis into oil bearing and non oil bearing communities will no longer be accepted, stressing that every Ogoniman is entitled to whatever is in the area irrespective of his community.
According to him, as Ogoni people did not succumb to the threat of Abacha, so also Ogoni people will not succumb to the threat of any oil company.
However, in an interview with The Tide in Eleme, the President of Ogoni Oil Bearing Communities, Traditional rulers Council, Chief Donald Gberesu, said that oil exploration will not affect the clean-up exercise in Ogoniland.
Chief Gberesu said that the oil bearing communities are not opposed to the cleanup exercise, stressing that the communities cannot continue to watch as investors are being chased away from Ogoniland.
“Forgive me if I am some- what emotional about this matter, Ogonis may be seen as a people missing a point if we drive away genuine investors from our land.
“I wasn’t comfortable with Mosop’s action on this particular issue, as it is causing deprivation and alienation of the rightful owners of the land.
“In Ogoni, land is owned by families and individual communities,” he said.
He however said that the council will work with the leadership of Mosop and any other group to ensure a successful clean-up exercise in the area.