Ogoni Groups Pass Vote Of No Confidence In ODC, Accuse Shell Of Trying To Sell ‘Stolen’ OML 11

A coalition of Ogoni diaspora organizations, youth groups, and civil society organizations both at home and abroad has passed a vote of no confidence in the Federal Government-appointed Ogoni Dialogue Committee, ODC, led by Professor Don Baridam, over alleged attempts to undermine MOSOP.

In a statement issued over the weekend and signed by the Acting President of NUOS International USA, Edwards Adookor; the Coordinator of The Unseen Project, Sira Mark; the President of Youth & Civil Society, Silvernus Alesaa and the President of CDHRAC International USA, Ignatius Ganago, the coalition said “there cannot be any ‘Ogoni dialogue’ greater than MOSOP.”

“MOSOP is Ogoni. MOSOP is tears, blood, and the supreme sacrifice. There is no other apex organization in Ogoni that speaks for Ogoni than MOSOP,” the statement read.

The coalition comprises the National Union of Ogoni Students, NUOS, International Secretariat, CDHRAC International USA, The Unseen Project, Ogoni London-based activists, and Youth and Civil Society.

The groups stressed that there can be no genuine dialogue on the Ogoni question without Shell taking the lead to address 68 years of alleged oil theft, commercial robbery, environmental degradation, and economic injustice in Ogoniland.

The coalition recalled Shell’s alleged role in the military occupation of Ogoniland in the 1990s, citing incidents in communities including Kaa, Kpean, Tere, Gwara, Eeken, and Tua Tua, where over 300 people were reportedly killed. It linked the events to the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists under the Abacha regime after Ogoni people declared Shell _persona non grata in Ogoniland.

According to the coalition, "OML II is the catalyst on which Shell funded the arson of 17 Ogoni towns and villages, the slaughter of Ogoni 4 and judicial hanging so we can not fold our arms and blind our eyes and watch Shell sell our ancestral  heritage on London Stock Exchange without recourse."

The coalition rejected Shell’s planned sale of OML 11 on the London Stock Exchange for $2.4 billion.

“Shell was pushed out of Ogoni over 30 years ago. It remains a squatter and evicted tenant. Shell cannot list OML 11 on the London Stock Exchange without Ogoni consent or permission.

“For peaceful dialogue and possible oil resumption, Shell must first withdraw OML 11 from the London Stock Exchange because the LSE cannot trade in stolen oil.

“Ogoni people will not sell the future of our children and unborn generations," the statement said.

The coalition warned the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu that allowing Shell to proceed with the OML 11 divestment on the LSE would amount to a failure to protect Ogoni and Nigerian wealth from foreign corporate exploitation.

“If Shell and the FG think they can sell our oil on the London Stock Exchange, then they should go to the London Stock Exchange to discuss oil resumption. There will be no dialogue or oil resumption in Ogoni as long as Shell refuses to surrender Ogoni oil,” it added.

The groups also cautioned Renaissance Africa Energy against engaging with Shell over the alleged “stolen asset,” saying the company should be prepared to answer questions at the London Stock Exchange.

"Renaissance CEO/MD, Tony Attach, served as a Shell employee and decision-maker at the time Shell funded the inter-tribal war that wiped out 17 Ogoni towns and paved the way for the judicial hanging of our leaders. His leadership of Renaissance is corporate fraud, and the company remains a pseudo-surrogate for Shell.

“It is shameful that the ODC is discussing a park at a time Shell is putting Ogoni assets up for sale on the London Stock Exchange,” the coalition said.

“We therefore call on the international community, the London Stock Exchange, the governments of the UK, the Netherlands, and Northern Ireland, and all international financial and insurance institutions to beware: Shell cannot be allowed to sell stolen oil after bankrolling the military occupation of Ogoniland and the Niger Delta.”

The coalition restated Ogoni demands to include: total and unconditional exoneration of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists, creation of Bori State and full implementation of the Ogoni Bill of Rights.  

“From UNEP to ODC, Ogoni has been shortchanged. We will not stand for that.

“Any organization that claims to speak for Ogoni should tell us where they were. Job scams for relatives and commercial interests is not dialogue, it is surrender," the statement conclude