KEY POINTS

• Ogoni group demands investigation into alleged diversion of a 300 million dollars compensation fund meant for community development.

• Peaceful protest held in Bori, with calls to stop alleged illegal oil exploration in Lekuma communities.

• Group threatens wider protests and issues 14-day ultimatum to companies operating in the affected areas.

The Ogoni Liberation Initiative, OLI, a pressure group in Rivers State, has called for full accountability over an alleged 300 million dollars compensation fund reportedly released by the Federal Government for the development and welfare of Ogoni communities.

The group said the fund has been a subject of public controversy for several years, with allegations that it was diverted through some politicians, including a former governor of Rivers State. OLI insisted that anyone found responsible for misappropriating the funds must be held accountable.

The demand was made on Saturday during a peaceful protest in Bori, the headquarters of Khana Local Government Area and the traditional headquarters of the Ogoni people.

The protest was led by OLI leader, Douglas Fabeke, who told journalists that decades of appeals to government authorities had failed to bring meaningful relief to Ogoni communities. He said the latest action marks the beginning of a more strategic effort to push their demands to national and international platforms if necessary.

Calls to End Alleged Illegal Oil Operations

During the protest, group members carried placards calling for transparency, justice, and an immediate halt to alleged illegal oil exploration activities in parts of Ogoni land, particularly in Lekuma communities in Tai Local Government Area.

Some placards specifically demanded that an indigenous oil company accused of operating in the area should immediately suspend activities.

Fabeke said the protest was also meant to draw attention to the unresolved plight of 17 Lekuma Ogoni communities that were allegedly destroyed between 1993 and 1998 during the military regime of late General Sani Abacha.

He alleged that more than 300 people were killed during that period, while thousands were displaced, with many still living as refugees in other African countries or remaining homeless within Nigeria.

Rejection of Private Oil Companies in Ogoni Land

The group expressed concern over what it described as renewed oil-related activities in affected communities despite the absence of full environmental remediation and community restoration.

OLI declared any private oil company operating in Ogoni land as persona non grata, insisting that only the Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), should be allowed to operate in the area.