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St. Louisans Join Ogoni 20 Hunger Strike
St. Louis Support Committee for MOSOP
438 North Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63130
(314) 862-5773, Fax: (314) 862-8155
For Immediate Release
August 20, 1997 Contact: Mira Tanna
(314) 862-5773 or
(314) 645-2636
OVER 20 ST. LOUISANS JOIN FAST FOR FREEDOM OF 20 OGONI POLITICAL PRISONERS
St. Louis, Mo. - On Wednesday, August 20 and Thursday, August 21, over 20
people in St. Louis will join a hunger strike of 20 Nigerians who are in
prison in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The political prisoners are activists
with the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), who have
been carrying on a nonviolent struggle against Shell Oil which they accuse
of destroying their land. On November 10, 1995, the Nigerian military
government executed 9 Ogoni activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, the
charismatic leader of MOSOP and an internationally renowned writer. The
trial of these 9 Ogoni was repeatedly condemned by human rights
organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch / Africa,
the International Commission of Jurists and the United Nations. The 20
currently in prison are standing trial on the same charges for which Ken
Saro-Wiwa was executed.
The hunger strike by the 20 Ogoni political prisoners began on August 11
and is set to continue until August 21. The purpose of the hunger strike
is to "protest against the government's decision to stall court
proceedings" on the case since 1994. Each of the 20 has suffered
deteriorating health from torture, poor sanitation, malnutrition and
denial of medical care. In August 1995, one additional political prisoner,
Clement Tusima, died in custody.
St. Louis supporters of MOSOP have decided to fast in solidarity with the
20 in Nigeria. Those fasting in St. Louis include lawyers, high school and
college students, a teacher, an accountant, a journalist, a retiree,
campus minister, social worker, Nigerian refugees, and others. Twenty-six
people in all are fasting.
In February, 1996, seven Ogoni refugees were placed in St. Louis by the
United Nations High Commission on Refugees. They have been working with
local human rights and environmental activists to educate those in the St.
Louis community about Shell Oil's practices in Nigeria through monthly
informational pickets at Shell stations around the metropolitan area.
MOSOP is calling for a boycott of Shell products until Shell pays adequate
compensation to those affected by oil production in Nigeria, adopts the
same environmental standards under which it operates in the United States,
and cleans up the pollution it has caused already. MOSOP is also calling
for economic sanctions against the military government of Nigeria.
The next informational picket will take place on Saturday, August 23 from
12:30 - 2 pm outside of the Shell station at the corner of Kingshighway
and Page in the City of St. Louis.
Some of the fasters, including Noble Obani-Nwibari, vice president of
MOSOP, are available for interviews. For more information, call (314)
862-5773.
--------------------------------------------
BACKGROUNDER ON THE OGONI 20
"Abacha knows that executing them or even trying them will draw unwanted
attention. Instead, he seems prepared to let them die in jail untried"
--The New York Times, August 6, 1997
MOSOP's Struggle
In 1995, internationally acclaimed writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was
executed along with eight of his colleagues. The nine were part of the
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) which was formed in
1990 to protest the environmental devastation of the Niger delta caused by
Shell Oil. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
called the Niger delta the most endangered river delta in the world. Since
the Ogoni began a nonviolent campaign against oil destruction, over 2,000
people have died at the hands of the Nigerian military, which has received
weapons from Shell Oil.
Today, another 20 Ogoni men are in prison in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Some
have been in jail for over three years, and still the Nigerian government
refuses to grant them bail, much less bring them to trial. Testimony by
the 20 implicates Shell in their arrest and subsequent torture. Two of
political prisoners reported on September 21, 1996, "Shell Police replied
that nothing can make us free from their hand, and that even if they
forgave others, they cannot forgive the indigenes of Bomu and Dere
communities because they are the causes of the hindrances to their
operations in Ogoniland."
Who are the Ogoni 20?
The Ogoni 20 are: Elijan L Baadom, John Banatu, Ngbaa Baovi, Kagbara
Bassee, Kale Beete, Friday Cburuma, Paul Deekor, Godwin Gbodor, Blessing
Israel, Adam Kaa, Benjamin Kabari, Baribuma Kumanwe, Baritule Lebe,
Taagalo Kmonsi, Nyieda Nasikpo, Sampson Ntiginee, Nwinbari A Papah, Zorzar
Popgbara, Samuel A Sigha, and Babina Visor.
The Ogoni 20 have been charged in connection with the murders of four
Ogoni chiefs in Giokoo on June 21, 1994 (the same charges for which the
Ogoni 9 were executed on November 10, 1995). According to Human Rights
Watch / Africa, fourteen of those charged have been identified by only one
eyewitness and five of them were alleged only to be "among the crowd" at
the scene of the murders. The U.S. Department of State has identified the
trial against the Ogoni 20 to be unfair. One of the 20 was arrested in May
1994, prior to this crime even being committed. At various times there
have been 23 Ogoni (excluding the 9 already executed) arrested and charged
in relation to those same murders. The last arrest was in November of
1996. 20 of the 23 are still in custody. Of the other three, one, Clement
Tusima, died in custody in August 1995. The other two have been released,
reportedly after their employers exerted pressure on the Nigerian
authorities.
Prison Conditions
The men are kept in severely overcrowded cells, each with dozens of
prisoners. All must sleep on the floor. Torture, denial of medical care,
starvation, and poor sanitary conditions are all listed as complaints. All
of them are currently in poor health, suffering from weight loss, skin
rashes, intermittent fevers, loss of hearing and vision.
Robert Azibaola, the lawyer for the 20, reported in June 1997: "Nyieda
Nasikpo had just been released from the dark room the other day. The dark
room is a prison within prison, serving as punishment within punishment.
In this room, communications within the prisons and other inmates is
totally severed and the detainee is locked perpetually with 24 hours total
darkness in a 3x3 feet cell at the pleasure of the authorized person."
On August 11, the 20 began a hunger strike, which will initially continue
for 10 days.
Current Situation
Human rights organizations believe that the Nigerian military government
is stalling the court proceedings to avoid the type of international
outcry as after Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution. The military government has
repeatedly changed venues and used legal technicalities to keep the 20 in
jail. On July 23 1997, Justice Daniel Kalio of the Rivers State High Court
held that he did have jurisdiction to rule on the question of bail for the
20. Within a week, the government had filed an appeal, and now the hearing
on that appeal will be held in late September.
------------------------------------------
Letter Fasters are Sending to Ogoni 20
St. Louis Support Committee for MOSOP
438 North Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63130
(314) 862-5773, Fax: (314) 862-8155
August 19, 1997
Ogoni 20
Port Harcourt Prisons
Rivers State
NIGERIA
Dear The Ogoni 20:
We, the undersigned members and supporters of MOSOP in Missouri, are aware
of your courageous hunger strike. For the 40 months you have been in
detention, we have been working with others to publicize your plight with
the hope that the Nigerian military will release you. Now the twenty-six
of us join with you in your hunger strike on Wednesday and Thursday,
August 20 - 21. We hope that the solidarity we offer will strengthen you.
Please be aware that your suffering is not in vain; it is only through
people with courage such as yours that Ogoni will be free of environmental
devastation and military repression.
In solidarity,
Bomadum Abueh
Kawa Abueh
Bud Deraps
J. P. Devine
Mary Dutcher
Becky Fraundorf
Scott Fraundorf
Douglas Ikeh
Margaret Johnson
Ben Jones
Yereba Kina
Stacy Kraft
Mark Kruger
Abdelkader Miloudi
Florence Obani-Nwibari
Noble Obani-Nwibari
Diana Oleskevich
Harry O'Rourke
Tim Pekarek
Olga Pierce
Poul Price
Tim Rakel
Bill Ramsey
Godfrey Taneh
Mira Tanna
James Uebari