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International Campaigns: Nigeria Abiola Release "Soon": Now the Ogoni 20 Must Be Free LONDON - The international community is urging Nigeria's head of state to release 20 Ogoni political detainees following the announced release of Chief Moshood Abiola. During face to face talks with General Abubakar in June, UK Foreign Minister Tony Lloyd said the European Union called for "the early resolution of the case of Chief Abiola and the 20 Ogonis, as well as the release of the remaining detainees". 20 Ogoni men are in prison in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where they have been detained without trial since 1994. They face the same politically motivated murder charges, the same violations of their rights, and potentially the same hangman's noose that killed Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders in November 1995. The 1995 hangings led directly to Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth. The military still refuses to release the bodies of the Ogoni 9 for burial. Speaking today from the movement's London office, MOSOP's exiled Acting President Ledum Mitee said: `The international community must introduce benchmarks to assess the sincerity of General Abubakar's commitment to national reconciliation and a return to genuine democratic civilian rule. The military's attitude to human rights has always been tested by their treatment of the Ogoni people. The Ogoni 20 should be unconditionally released. The bodies of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni leaders murdered in 1995 should be returned to the grieving families. Ogoni must be demilitarised. Then we can begin to talk about reform in Nigeria '. `I am glad that Chief Abiola's ordeal of four years in detention is over. Having personally suffered more than a year in jail at the hands of the Nigerian military - along with my colleague and predecessor as MOSOP President, Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni detainees - I can fully sympathise with his situation. But the release from detention of one person - even the man who held the democratic mandate to be President of the country - is not the issue'. `The terms of this whole process of `reform' are being set by the military. All Nigerians, not only the military must be involved in this process. What now of half a million Ogoni living under military occupation? What of one hundred million Nigerians, whose democratic decision has apparently been sidelined to buy more time for the military? When will Ogoni and Nigeria be free? The world is rushing to readmit Nigeria to the international community, but Ogoni people have not even been allowed to honour our dead'. MOSOP calls on General Abdulsalam Abubakar to: Unconditionally release all Ogoni political prisoners - including the Ogoni 20 - and 25 other Ogoni activists currently detained at various locations by the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force Release the bodies of the Ogoni 9 to their families for proper burial Unconditionally release all Nigerian political prisoners Drop politically motivated charges against MOSOP and other opposition leaders Demilitarise Ogoni and guarantee freedom of movement, assembly and association in Ogoni and the Niger Delta region as a whole, by disbanding the RVISTF and all structures of the security apparatus operating in Ogoni, in connection with the suppression of MOSOP and legitimate Ogoni political protest Repeal military decrees that curtail fundamental freedoms and the due process of law, including Decree 29 by which calls for ethnic autonomy or self-determination are offences punishable by death Implement the recommendations of the 1996 United Nations fact-finding Mission concerning the social and economic development of the Ogoni people, and the payment of compensation to the families of the Ogoni 9 Hand over power to a transitional government of national unity by October 1st Undertake that this transitional government will have as its primary mandate the convocation a sovereign and national conference, made up of elected representatives of all Nigeria's ethnic groups, with equal voting rights [Since independence in 1960, there has been no occasion for Nigeria's 247 plus ethnic groups to meet together to reach a consensus on issues like the fair allocation of oil revenues and the federal structure of the country]. Respond to the Ogoni Bill of Rights, which was presented to the Nigerian Federal Government in 1990, and to which the Ogoni people have still not received a reply. MOSOP calls on Shell to: Make a public statement calling for the unconditional release of the Ogoni 20, the release of the bodies of the Ogoni 9, and publicly supporting all MOSOP's immediate demands Implement the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur's report on Nigeria, presented to the United Nations Commission of Human Right's 54th Session, held in Geneva on April 15th 1998, which called for an independent investigation of the impact of Shell's operations on the Ogoni environment . MOSOP calls on Nigerians, supporters of the Ogoni people and the international community to continue to: Pressure the Nigerian authorities to unconditionally release the Ogoni 20, all political prisoners in Ogoni and Nigeria, and to release of the bodies of the Ogoni 9 Pressure the Nigerian authorities to meet all of MOSOP's immediate demands Pressure Shell to issue a public statement supporting MOSOP's immediate demands. (c) Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), 1998. Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) International secretariat: Suite 5, 3 - 4 Albion Place, Galena Road, London W6 0LT, United Kingdom. Tel. (+44) (0)181 563 8614, Fax. (+44) (0)181 563 8615 http://www.oneworld.org/mosop/ e-mail: MOSOP International secretariat mosop@gn.apc.org "Lord take my soul, but the struggle continues" -- Ken Saro-Wiwa, the gallows, November 10th 1995. Ogoni is a land of half a million people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Since 1958, oil companies such as Shell have exploited Ogoni's oil wealth, while the Ogoni people have suffered economic deprivation, the environmental devastation of our land and the discriminatory policies of successive Nigerian governments'. 'The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People demands economic justice, human rights - including the right to choose the use of our land and its resources - and to a future free of violence. MOSOP is the democratic voice of the Ogoni people'. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club