MOSOP urges Ogonis to disregard attempt to demonise it

THE Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has said that it would lose no sleep over mischievous attempts by her detractors to demonise the organisation but would not take lightly threats to the lives of its leadership and members by envious and desperate local adversaries, especially, the so-called peter Medee. MOSOP has thus called on the Ogoni people and the general public to discountenance his baseless and unfortunate allegations made on radio last Saturday.

Peter Medee had on Silverbird’s Rhythm 93.7fm programme, viewpoint, on July 16, 2016, maliciously and deliberately distorted facts in his inept and failed efforts to rope MOSOP in frivolous accusations. He also credited efforts of MOSOP culminating into the UNEP environmental assessment report on Ogoniland to his controversial mentor and financier, who, like their traditional king, have had their social stocks collapsed not only on Ogoni but also Rivers socio-political market. “These were all in an attempt to paint the leadership of the Ogoni umbrella body in bad light and incite the Ogoni community and the general public against them,” MOSOP said in a statement by Bari-araKpalap, Media/Public Affairs Advisor.

MOSOP noted that the attack is one of the plans lined up by medee’s gang to oust the present leadership of the Movement in line with the dictates of their master who wants to be the sole owner and leader of Ogoni, and sees the MOSOP leadership as stubborn and independently minded.”However, this tendency no doubt betrayed frustration and desperation. Having secretly entered a stomach infrastructure deal to the tune of 1% of profit after tax with NPDC with respect to immediate resumption of oil production in Ogoni, they have been mad that the resistance of the Ogoni people led by MOSOP would destroy the deal and resorted to blackmail and falsehood against MOSOP as damage control.

However, while we do not consider it important joining issues with these characters, we would not fail to put the records aright,” Kpalap stated.

it was explained that the Ogoni environmental study occasioning the popular UNEP report on Ogoniland did not happens by chance neither was it an initiative of kagote nor, their sponsor. The assessment exercise as a matter of fact arose from acknowledged struggles of our people that medee and his gang denounced.

The outcries of the people attracted the intervention of the United Nations, which in 1996 and 1998 or thereabout sent two teams to Ogoni the Fact-Finding Mission to Ogoni and the Rapporteur on Nigeria respectively. They made far reaching recommendations including specifically advising the Nigerian government to conduct an audit of the Ogoni environment in consultation with Shell and MOSOP and not kagote or any other person or group.

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In 2006 and 2007, MOSOP held meetings with UNEP at Nairobi and Port Harcourt with valuable outcomes. It also made useful recommendations to the federal government that informed a tour of impacted sites in Ogoni by a federal government team led by the then Minister of Environment, Mrs. Esuene, amongst others. Therefore, without the MOSOP led Ogoni struggle, there would not have been any such scientific document on Ogoniland, Kpalap said.

With MOSOP’s campaign intensity coupled with pressure from the international community, the Obasanjo administration contracted UNEP to assess the Ogoni environment and make recommendations to it. However the dubious approach of some Ogoni in government and Kuka leaving, no doubt about their acting the script of Shellforced MOSOP to raise alarm, Kpalap said

Thereafter, they called on the Ogoni people to be calm as MODSOP leaders assured that no oil production will take place in Ogoni now. ‘We would reiterate for the umpteenth time that what is on the Ogoni card now is remediation and restoration of the devastated Ogoni environment as the pollution in the area is not abating but spreading and deepening,” the group declared.