Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has condemned the alleged continual violation of the rights of the Ogoni people by Nigerian soldiers attached to the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC).

A press statement issued in Bori, Ogoniland, by MOSOP, signed by the Publicity Secretary Fegalo Nsuke said: “We are deeply saddened that the repression of our people continues unabated as soldiers attached to SPDC continue to harass our women and farmers and prevent them from accessing their farmlands, destroying crops and forcefully laying pipelines through Ogoni farms.”

According to the statement, “It is disheartening that despite the precarious conditions of the Ogoni people consequent upon the massive pollution of farmlands, streams and rivers, Shell continues to inflict monumental pains on our people by preventing them from their farms while using Nigerian soldiers to lay pipelines in Ogoni without our consent.

“We note that the activity of Shell constitutes real danger to the security and rights of our people especially women who have reported harassment by Nigerian soldiers attached to SPDC. Furthermore, the prevention of peasant farmers from their farms portends serious threat to food supplies to families who rely on subsistence farming for survival.”

Concluding, Mosop said: “We condemn the actions of Shell and the company's determination to ensure that our people die in droves and call on the Nigerian president to put an end to the repression in Ogoniland by putting an end to the military occupation of Ogoni farmlands.”