The Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI), a pressure group advocating for Ogoni communities in Rivers State, has demanded full transparency over an alleged $300 million compensation fund meant for the development and welfare of the Ogoni people.
The group held a peaceful protest on Saturday in Bori, the headquarters of Khana Local Government Area, urging the Federal Government to investigate what they claim was the misappropriation of the funds.
Leaders of the movement accused politicians, including a former governor of Rivers State, of diverting the compensation meant to address decades of environmental damage and community suffering.
Douglas Fabeke, leader of OLI, told journalists that the demonstration marks the start of a new strategic effort to amplify Ogoni grievances nationally and internationally.
“Decades of appeals have failed to bring relief. This protest is a call for justice,” Fabeke said.
Protesters, including elderly men and women, carried placards demanding transparency, an end to illegal oil exploration, and protection of local communities in Lekuma, Tai Local Government Area.
Some signs specifically called for the immediate cessation of operations by an indigenous oil company allegedly exploiting the area.
Fabeke warned that resuming oil activities without proper environmental remediation and community restoration threatens public health, safety, and livelihoods.
The group insisted that only the Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), should operate in Ogoni land, declaring private operators unwelcome.
The protesters also issued a 14-day ultimatum for any company in the affected Lekuma communities to halt operations and remove equipment.
Fabeke stressed that failure by the Federal Government to intervene would compel the group to escalate its demands to the Federal Capital Territory and foreign embassies to draw global attention to the Ogoni plight.
The demonstration underscores the enduring tensions over resource control, environmental justice, and development in Ogoni land, decades after widespread destruction during Nigeria’s military era.
