|
|
Site Map . Contact . Help . Home |
|
||
|
||
| Regional Programmes . Productions . Resources . About Us | ||
"We Ijaw youths drawn from the five hundred communities and from over 40 clans that make up the Ijaw nation and representing 25 representative organizations met, today, in Kaiama to discuss how the best way to ensure the continued survival of the indigenous peoples of the Ijaw ethnic nationality of the Niger Delta within the Nigerian state. The Conference observed: a. That it was through British colonization that the IJAW NATION was forcibly put under the Nigerian State b. That but for the economic interests of Britain, the Ijaw ethnic nationality would have evolved as a distinct and separate sovereign nation, enjoying undiluted political, economic, social, and cultural AUTONOMY. c. That Britain's division of the Southern Protectorate into East and West in 1939 by the British marked the beginning of the balkanization of a hitherto territorially contiguous and culturally homogeneous Ijaw people into political and administrative units, much to our disadvantage. This trend is continuing in the balkanization of the Ijaws into six states-Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, mostly as minorities who suffer socio-political, economic, cultural and psychological deprivations. d. That the quality of life of the Ijaw people is deteriorating as a result of utter neglect, suppression and marginalisation visited on Ijaws by the alliance of the Nigerian state and transnational oil companies. e. That the political crisis in Nigeria is mainly about the struggle for control of oil and mineral resources which account for over 80% of GDP, 95 %of the national budget and 90% of foreign exchange earnings of which, 65%, 75% and 70% respectively are derived from within the Ijaw nation. Despite these huge contributions, our reward from the Nigerian State remains avoidable deaths resulting from ecological devastation and military repression. f. That the continued damage to our fragile natural environment and to the health of our people is due in the main to uncontrolled exploration and exploitation of crude oil and natural gas which has led to numerous oil spillages, uncontrolled gas flaring, the opening up of our forests to loggers, indiscriminate canalization, flooding, land subsidence, coastal erosion, earth tremors etc. Oil and gas are exhaustible resources and the complete lack of concern for ecological rehabilitation, in the light of the Oloibiri experience, is a signal of impending doom for the peoples of Ijawland. g. That the degradation of the environment of Ijawland by transnational oil companies and the Nigerian State arise mainly because Ijaw people have been robbed of their natural rights to ownership and control of their land and resources through undemocratic Nigerian State legislation such as the Land Use Decree of 1978, the Petroleum Decrees of 1969 and 1991, the Lands (Title Vesting etc.) Decree No. 52 of 1993 (Osborne Land Decree), the National Inland Waterways Authority Decree No. 13 of 1997 etc. h. That the principle of Derivation in Revenue Allocation has been consciously and systematically obliterated by successive regimes of the Nigerian state. We note the drastic reduction of the Derivation Principle from 100% (1953), 50% (1960), 45% (1970), 20% (1975) 2% (1982), 1.5% (1984) to 3% (1992 to date), and a rumored 13% in Abacha's 1995 undemocratic and unimplemented Constitution. i. That the violence in Ijawland and other parts of the Niger Delta area in intra and inter ethnic conflicts, is sponsored by the State and transnational oil companies to keep the communities of the Niger Delta area divided, weak and distracted from the causes of their problems. j. That the recent revelations of the looting of the national treasury by the Abacha junta is only a reflection of an existing and continuing trend of stealing by public office holders in the Nigerian state. The Gulf war brought a windfall of $12 billion that was looted by Babangida and his cohorts. We note that over 70% of the billions of dollars being looted by military rulers and their civilian collaborators is derived from our ecologically devastated Ijawland." [Source: Kaiama Declaration, ERA News, and Tempo]
[a] Texaco helicopter hijacked On Wednesday, November 11, 1998, armed Ijaw youths hijacked a helicopter belonging to the Texaco Overseas Petroleum Company Unlimited (TOPCON). The aircraft, with a crew of three, was carrying N8.5 million, [about $100,000] meant to pay the ransom for 8 kidnapped workers of the company. Among the kidnapped men are an American, a Briton and a South African. The armed youth who also detained the crew ordered the pilot to change route from Warri to Bomadi, their operational base. This development comes in the heels of a similar kidnap operation last Sunday when 38 workers of Diamond "arrested" some foreign workers of TOPCON (TEXACO) and demanded N314, 000 each, as ransom. Neither Texaco nor the police would say how many workers were kidnapped but the police said they had arrested 28 of the kidnappers. [Source: P.M.News, Punch, and This Day] [b] Shell's relay stations shut Shell's Managing Director in Nigeria, Ron Van Den Berg, says anti-government protesters have taken control of nine of its oil relay stations in the Niger-Delta region halting the transfer of some 250,000 barrels of crude a day. Shell officials in Nembe district in Delta State also said demonstrators attacked four flow stations over the weekend and forced employees to evacuate. On Saturday, another group of protesters forced the closure of Shell flow station facilities in the Odeama Creek area. Three company boats were also seized along with 12 crew members, the company reported. Further west in the same state, members of the Ijaw ethnic group threatened to attack several Shell facilities, forcing the withdrawal of workers and the shutdown of at least four other flow stations. Shell's Nigerian joint venture, the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, has appealed to Nigeria's military government to settle the dispute and allow the company to resume normal operations. [Source: Nigerian Tribune, This Day, Punch, and P.M.News] [c] QUIT ORDER FOR OIL COMPANIES A resolution adopted Saturday [December 11, 1998] at the end of a three-day meeting held by 24 Ijaw nationalist groups representing 500 communities from 26 clans in Ijawland in Kaiama of Bayelsa State gave oil companies in Nigeria a two-week ultimatum to quit the region or face the wrath of the local people. But even before the declaration Shell said that protesting youth from Ogulagha Community of the Delta State invaded and shut down its Forcados oil export terminal over a compensation dispute with Mobil Producing Nigeria. Mobil reportedly promised to pay Ogulagha Community compensation of about 750,000 U.S. Dollars for its oil spill last year, but the community rejected it as it "inadequate". The resolution "affects multinational oil companies which include Shell, Chevron, Mobil and Texaco" said a statement by the Ijaw youth council. The Ijaws are Nigeria's fourth largest ethnic nationality with about 4 million people spread across five of Nigeria's 36-states structure. [Source: Guardian, National Concord, Punch, and Daily Sketch] [d] ISOKO YOUTHS JOIN THE BATTLE AGAINST OIL COMPANIES Isoko ethnic youths who had hitherto been aloof from the ongoing conflict against oil companies in the Niger-Delta, signaled their arrival as new players by shutting down five flow stations belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) [December 5] in the Isoko North and South councils of Delta State. The five flow stations, which are in Olomoro, Egini, Oweh, Uzere and Oroni, have a total capacity of over 40,000 barrels` of oil per day. Chief Godswill Edegware of the, Isoko Community Oil Producing Forum (ICOPROF), the flow stations were shut on Wednesday because of the alleged "nonchalant" attitude of Shell over issues relating to the development of the community. Edegware said "most disheartening was the fact that the promise made by Shell to the Isoko Development Union (IDU) to complete the IDU secretariat at Oleh, equipping and furnishing of the Delta State University faculty of Law library at the Oleh campus and the construction of the Emede/Igbide/Enwhe Road to link Patani and Port Harcourt", has not been fulfilled. Yesterday, an emergency meeting was held between Shell Community Liaison Officers and members of the affected communities. After the meeting, it was resolved that the youths should vacate the flow stations and that the elders should prevail on them to abide by the agreement. But a statement yesterday by the Isoko National Youth Movement (INYM) said the youths struck because "we can no longer sit back and fold our arms and watch the criminal marginalization of the Isoko people by successive governments of Nigeria and their multinational collaborator". The youths said Isoko lands have been closed up for oil exploration and that they are consulting with the elders on the next possible line of action. External Relations Manager of Shell [West] Albert Aranmabi, said yesterday that efforts were being made to ensure that the situation did not deteriorate. [e] CHEVRON IN SPILLAGE TANGO A fresh dispute is brewing between the Opuama and Tsekelewu communities in the Warri North council and Chevron Nigeria` Limited over an alleged spill at the company's Ewan oil field. But Chevron has dismissed the allegation, saying that only four barrels of crude was spilled and that they have been mopped up. The community has shut down Chevron's Opuakeba platform insisting that the facility would not be opened until Chevron honored agreements reached at a meeting held inside the Officers Mess of the 20th Amphibious Battalion, Effurun, Delta State last week. [g] ARREST OF IJAW LEADER The Nigerian police announced yesterday it has "captured" a prominent Ijaw community leader, Timmy Ogoriba, and taken him into custody but local activists jeer at the news saying "how can the police claim they have captured their own when Ogoriba is a noted police informant?" Tension heightened in the oil-rich territory following a massive army reinforcement in the area, and fears that Ogoriba, a local leader, might be a target of youth attack after he denounced the protests against oil companies. Police Commissioner Nasum Eli admits Ogoriba was being held in "protective custody" and would be released when tension subsides but observers say this may be a long time from now as ten military tanks and several police armored personnel carriers have been further deployed to help quell the on-going crisis and more troop reinforcements are being expected from the army base in Emele, Port Harcourt, according to inside military sources. [h] Growing assassination of Ijaw community leaders. The protracted Niger-Delta crisis took on a morbid dimension November 9, 1998 with the assassination of Ijaw leader, Mr. Shokare Clark, the younger brother of prominent Ijaw leader Chief Edwin Clark. The assassins who drove in a Mercedes Benz car forced their way into late Mr. Clark's residence at 1, Bekederemo Street, Ughelli, Delta State and kidnapped him to an unknown destination. He was later found dead in a pool of blood near a gutter. This was at a time Chief E.K. Clark, his elder brother was meeting with the Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Okhai Ahigbe in Abuja on ways to bring about lasting peace in Warri and the Niger Delta. The Clark assassination has created an uneasy calm in the area coming only three days after a peace accord was struck between the Ijaws and Itsekeris of Warri. Two Ijaws namely, Chief Samuel Opuokobo Osunwobeni and Chief Felix Okpomu were also gruesomely murdered last year during the three month crisis between the Ijaws and the Itsekiris. [i] 19 Ijaw Youths Arrested In another development, 19 Ijaws from Sagbama in Brass Local Government Council of Bayelsa State have been arrested and detained by the military authorities of the 20 Amphibious Battalion, Ejoor Barracks, Effurun, Delta State. The arrested Ijaws were on their way to the Texaco Overseas Company to collect compensation on oil spillage in their area. The arrested youths were taken from a bus conveying them to Warri along the Effurun expressway. The Federated Niger Delta Izon Communities, the Movement for the Survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality and Niger Delta Volunteer Force in a statement in Warri said they are worried that innocent Ijaws could be arrested and detained for no just cause. The spokesman of the Federated Niger Delta Izon Communities, Mr.George Timinim, said this might be the beginning of a tense period in the region. [h] 40 protesting Ijaw youths killed by soldiers At least 40 people have been shot dead in the first 5 days of clashes in Nigeria's oil region since an ultimatum to oil firms to leave Ijaw areas expired. Militant Ijaw youths demanded oil Multinationals leave by December 30, at which time clashes erupted between soldiers and protesters in Yenagoa, capital of the biggest oil-producing Bayelsa State. The Punch newspaper reported that soldiers in Yenagoa opened fire on protesters, killing three Ijaw youths and provoking widespread anger in the volatile region. Subsequent fighting resulted in at least 17 more deaths, the newspaper reported. The News Agency of Nigeria also reported that 20 people were killed in Yenagoa within the last week following several days of clashes. The report said some youths fired back at the troops using weapons seized from soldiers. Punch quoted Lt. Col. Paul Edor Obi saying that the military had declared a state of emergency in Yenagoa, about 50 miles west of Port Harcourt. Residents have fled the area for fear of increased violence. Ethnic youth groups have for years protested the military's mismanagement of the oil industry and demanded greater compensation for the use of their lands to extract the oil. "Between yesterday and today about 12 people have died and the protests have continued. The situation is tense," Robert Aziboala of the Niger Delta Human and Environmental Rescue group, who visited Yenegoa, told reporters: ''There are presently 15 military roadblocks on the road between Yenagoa and Mbiama junction, a distance of 17 km (11 miles),'' [I] HOW DOES THE GOVERNMENT PERCEIVE THE PROBLEM? A visibly worried Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who on Monday [Oct. 20] paid an unscheduled visit to the scene of Saturday's pipeline explosion that killed about 700 people in Delta State, has ruled out any compensation for the families of the dead. General Abubakar, who arrived in Jesse, a town in Ethiope Local Government area of Delta State around 3.08p.m. in a helicopter owned by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), was asked by a journalist if there was any relief package for the families of the affected victims. "What relief? Replied Abubakar adding: "There is no way government can prevent this type of incident, unless the people stop the vandalization of petroleum pipelines and other government properties. Environmental groups who said he should have waited for an investigation report before making such comments have criticized General Abubakar's statement that the burst pipe was sabotage. They also describe his decision to ride in a Shell helicopter as "a classic case of the privatization of the Nigerian State and the militarization of commerce." Back in Abuja, at a news conference, General Abdulsalam Abubakar gave his sternest warning yet on developments in the Niger Delta. "While respecting human rights, we will not allow people to take order into their hands. There are a lot of ways of restoring security," the General said warning that the drop in oil revenues from unrest and the collapse of world crude prices left little room for maneuver ahead of the restoration of civilian transition. [Source: Punch, Vanguard, Guardian, Today, P.M. News, Tell, The NEWS]
Ijaw youths reacted yesterday [January 15, 1999] to the decision by the Head of State Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar to talk with Ijaw leaders on the crisis in the Niger Delta, saying the whole plan looks like a set-up. The Abuja meeting, brokered by the Bayelsa state military administrator, Lt. Col. Obi and some senior Ijaw military officers, is expected to spell out what the government should do to avert further conflict in the Niger Delta. However the Ijaw leaders are raising doubts about the success of the parley because of what they call the "Akhigbe factor" in the talks. "Akhigbe [General Abubakar's deputy] is leading the government side and he is known to be very anti-Ijaw in his actions," according to Ijaw sources. Ijaw youth spokesman, Oronto Douglas, told P.M. News that whatever the parley set out to achieve must conform to the principles of the Kaiama Declaration, for it to be binding on the fighting force:" They would have to address the issues embedded in the Kaiama Declarations," he said. [P.M.News, Tell, The NEWS, Vanguard]
In an address in Lagos yesterday, [June 30] Environmental Rights Agency [ERA] Director, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, said General Abdulsalam Abubakar seemed more concerned with appeasing multinationals oil companies and elite politicians instead of victims of environmental degradation, economic deprivation and ethnic domination. Bassey said reconciliation in the Niger-Delta would only flow from: [a] Respect
for the environment and environmental human rights of all Nigerians;
The Chikoko Movement demands: (1) The right
to self-determination by all the constituent ethnic nationalities
in Nigeria and the scrapping of the present state and local government
structure. "Our people [the Ilaje people] got killed while protesting at the Chevron platform because of these simple demands": (1) Restoration of our environment to its natural state;
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||