Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Issues: An Encyclopedia

                            Nigeria: The Ogoni:
                  Oil, Blood, and the Death of a Homeland
                             Bruce E. Johansen
           Professor of Communication and Native American Studies
                      University of Nebraska at Omaha



     The 500,000 tribal Ogoni of the Niger delta in southern Nigeria
     have watched as their traditional fishing and farming livelihood
     has been laid waste by Shell Oil's extraction of oil, with full
     complicity of the national government, which has allowed large
     parts of the Ogonis' homeland to be ruined. The Ogonis' land has
     been contaminated not only by oil wells and pipelines, but also by
     gas flares that burn 24 hours a day, producing intense heat and
     chemical gas fogs that pollute nearby homes as they render farm
     fields barren and unproductive. The constant flaring of natural
     gas also contributes measurably to global warming. Several Ogoni
     who protested the ruination of their homeland and the
     impoverishment of their people have been convicted of false
     charges and executed.

     Shell has extracted oil from the Niger Delta since 1958. Shell
     operates a joint-venture consisting of Nigerian National Petroleum
     Corporation, Elf and Agip. Shell is by far the largest foreign oil
     company in Nigeria, accounting for 50 per cent of Nigeria's oil
     production. Nigeria generated roughly 12 per cent of Shell's oil
     production world-wide in the late 1990s. (Shell: 100 Years, 1997)

     High-pressure pipelines have been laid above ground through
     villages and farmlands, a major reason why the area suffered an
     average of 190 spills per year between 1989 and 1996, involving on
     average 319,200 gallons of oil. (Shell: 100 Years, 1997)

     According to one observer on the scene, "Rivers, lakes and ponds
     are polluted with oil, and much of the land is now impossible to
     farm. Canals, or `slots', have permanently damaged fragile
     ecosystems and led to polluted drinking water and deaths from
     cholera. Gas flaring and the construction of flow stations near
     communities have led to severe respiratory and other health
     problems..." (Shell: 100 Years, 1997)

     By 2000, oil accounted for more than 90 per cent Nigeria's export
     earnings and roughly 80 per cent of government revenue. More than
     90 per cent of Nigeria's oil is extracted from the Niger Delta.
     During the last 40 years, oil worth $30 billion has been extracted
     from the Ogonis' homeland. (Wiwa, 2000) By 2000, the Ogonis'
     homeland was home to 100 oil wells, two refineries, a
     petrochemical complex and a fertilizer complex, while most of the
     Ogoni people do not have electricity or running water. It is a
     land where five physicians serve 500,000 people. (Wiwa, 2000)

     According to a local observer, "Chevron-Texaco extracts hundreds
     of thousands of barrels of oil from the Niger Delta in Nigeria
     every year despite decades of resistance by the people of the
     Delta. In Opia, one community of the Delta, Chevron-Texaco has
     destroyed the traditional local economy, run pipelines through
     gardens and villages and leased helicopters to the military to
     attack local demonstrators." (Environmental Injustice, 2001)

     While local opponents of its activities assert that Chevron-Texaco
     profits heavily from its operations in the Niger Delta and has
     provided both dollars and infrastructure to the Nigerian military,
     (which uses those resources to suppress resistance and kill
     activists), Chevron-Texaco accepts no responsibility for
     environmental problems or human-rights abuses. While all
     meaningful quality-of-life measures continue to indicate that the
     lives of indigenous people in the Niger Delta continues to
     decline, the corporation continues to claim that its operations
     "promote democracy and development." (Environmental Injustice,
     2001)

     Obsolete, leaking, rusty oil pipelines have become a major source
     of contaminating oil spills for the Ogoni. In 1992, a major oil
     blow-out in the village of Botem lasted a week before it was
     stopped, creating a biological dead zone in the water courses that
     supplied drinking water for local residents. Oil spills caused by
     obsolete pipelines are routinely blamed on sabotage, which allows
     companies to ignore repairs under Nigerian law. During October,
     1998, an explosion and leak flooded a large part of the village of
     Jesse, killing more than 700 people; two years later, two pipeline
     explosions in southern Nigeria killed 300 people. (Gedicks, 2001,
     45)



     Repression by the "Kill and Go"

     The Ogonis' protests of such conditions have been met with brutal
     repression by Nigerian police. During 1990, people in the village
     of Umuechem protested oil pollution of their homeland, to be set
     upon by the notorious Mobile Police (known locally as the "Kill
     and Go") who bombarded the village, killing more than 100 people,
     as they looted many homes. Survivors were forced to leave their
     homes. (Gedicks, 2001, 46) The Movement for the Survival of the
     Ogoni People (MOSOP), organized during 1990, adopted an Ogoni Bill
     of Rights demanding local control of political and environmental
     affairs, blaming Shell Oil for "full responsibility for the
     genocide of the Ogoni." (Gedicks, 2001, 46) Following this
     declaration, the rights of the Ogoni were discussed before the
     United Nations Commission on Human Rights, meeting in Geneva,
     Switzerland, during 1992. In 1993, roughly 300,000 people gathered
     in protest in the Ogoni village of Bori, to declare Shell Oil
     persona non grata on their land. Shell was forced to suspend oil
     production for a time due to the protests at its nearby
     facilities.

     Response to these protests by Nigerian police and military was
     quick and forceful. Within the next eight years, according to an
     account by Al Gedicks (in Resource Rebels, 2001), more than 2,000
     people were killed and 37 villages substantially destroyed. About
     30,000 other Ogoni were displaced from their homes as troops took
     up long-term residence in the area to protect Shell's assets.
     (Gedicks, 2001, 47)

     On May 21, 1994, four Ogoni leaders were murdered in Gokana
     Kingdom, reportedly by angry youths. Ken Saro-Wiwa, the most
     notable leader of MOSOP and eight other MOSOP leaders were
     arrested and accused of involvement in the murders. The day after
     the crimes, military police (the Internal Security Task Force)
     stormed into Ogoniland, raiding, burning and looting villages.
     While thousands of Ogoni villagers took refuge in the bush,
     hundreds who did not escape were detained and tortured. On October
     31, 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogonis were sentenced to
     death by the Special Tribunal. They were executed on November 10.



     Oil Spills and Wastelands

     Large oil spills have turned large areas of the Ogonis' homeland
     into wastelands. In mid-2001, for example, a United Nations
     Internet page described Yaata, a Ogoni village, where "dying
     vegetation in various shades of ochre stretch as far as the eye
     can see, poisoned by soil turned soggy and a dark, greasy hue
     since crude oil began seeping through over a month ago." On April
     29, at the Royal/Dutch Shell Yorla oil field, a "quake-like tremor
     sent shockwaves onto Yaata and surrounding villages." (Nigeria:
     Focus, 2001) Within minutes, before people could guess the cause,
     jets of crude oil were already shooting up 100 meters, raining on
     the surroundings. The oil plume was quickly followed by strong
     fumes of natural gas, as the people of the village ran for their
     lives.

     John Nwikine, a student from Yaata, told the U.N.'s Integrated
     Regional Information Network that the villagers "knew from
     experience that any accidental fire was going to light up the area
     and spread as fast and as far as the fumes were going." (Nigeria:
     Focus, 2001) For nine days, according to an I.R.I.N. account, "The
     shower of crude oil and gas poured on Yaata unabated. The rapidly
     resulting streams of crude oil swamped neighboring farmlands,
     forests, streams and rivers." (Nigeria: Focus, 2001)

     Although Shell Oil was quickly alerted to the disaster, its
     employees were described by indigenous people on the scene as
     appearing helpless, as teams of Shell workers circled the area in
     helicopters, without landing. In the meantime, local people
     organized to alert inhabitants to the danger of lighting fires,
     limiting the damage as best they could. "Nevertheless," according
     to the I.R.I.N. account, "People in the areas pervaded by the
     fumes complained of breathing difficulties, in a number of cases
     combined with cough and runny noses" until experts from Boots and
     Coots International Well Control of Houston, Texas, capped the
     broken well-head on the ninth day. (Nigeria: Focus, 2001)

     When Yaata's residents returned after the spill was stopped,

          They found their village was uninhabitable. Their maize,
          cassava and yam crops were stained with crude oil,
          wilted and dying. Much of their livestock had either
          died or were dying from eating polluted vegetation and
          drinking contaminated water. Dead fish rose to the
          surface of creeks and ponds. (Nigeria: Focus, 2001)

     Two months later, no attempt had been made to clean up the spill's
     damage, aside from the digging of a few trenches to divert some of
     the oil spill. Residents of Yaata had been forced to move into
     other villages, giving up their lives' work.

     In the meantime, the spilled oil seeped further into the earth,
     contaminating underground water for miles around, as Shell blamed
     "sabotage" and refused to pay compensation. Shell complained that
     protests by local people had inhibited its ability to properly
     shut down the well that blew, in effect blaming the Ogoni for the
     explosive spill in the Yorla field. (Shell Says, 2001) Ledum
     Mitee, president of MOSOP in 2001, accused Shell of seeking
     "scapegoats" for the spill instead of taking prompt steps to
     contain and clean it. "We are shocked that Shell is already
     leveling accusations against local people who have risked their
     lives and health to prevent a fire for the last three days," Mitee
     said. (Shell Says, 2001)



     The Death of Friday Nwiido

     The tensions between the oil companies and people in the Niger
     Delta are a regular feature of daily life that often result in
     deaths, illustrated by the death of one young man, Friday Nwiido.

     On Sunday April 29, 2001, at about 9:30 a.m., a huge explosion
     took place at the Well 10 facility (Yorla Oil Field) and the
     affected facility rained crude oil sporadically for days into
     adjacent farmlands, settlements, streams, swamps, lakes and
     rivers. Jollyboy Olole, an eyewitness, who was inspecting his
     cassava crops when the explosion occurred, said that the crude
     "rained into his eyes." (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

     On the same afternoon, Shell organized a press conference in its
     staff club in nearby Port Harcourt. At the conference, Shell staff
     insisted that the blow-out had been caused by sabotage. Three
     Texan oil engineers who helped to deal with the problem later were
     quoted as saying that the blow-out was caused by "mechanical
     failure due to gas pressure coupled with corrosion of the
     facility." (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

     In the meantime, Friday Nwiido celebrated his 30th birthday in
     June, was working as a welder in Port Harcourt to where he
     commuted every day on his motorbike. He also was a farmer and
     fisherman; "a true Ogoni Man," he said. (Ashton-Jones, 2001)
     Seventeen people were dependant on his earnings, including his
     mother, his wife and three children.

     Following the blow-out at Yorla, a group of local youths,
     including Friday, who seems to have been accepted him as a leader,
     went to see Shell in Port Harcourt about clearing up the mess. It
     was agreed that Shell staff would meet the youths at the site to
     discuss the situation. However, Shell arrived on the scene,
     contrary to the perceived agreement, with all their equipment,
     plus their Wilbros contractors. Nonetheless, it was agreed with
     Friday that the youths would do the cleanup labor. The operation
     was not completed that day and it was further agreed that Shell
     would employ the same youths when they returned to complete the
     work. No payment was made.

     However, contrary to the agreement Shell did not send a prior
     message of their return so that the group of youths were not on
     site when the clearance contractors returned. As a result, another
     group was employed. By the time Friday and his cohort learned what
     had happened, the work had been completed and, by coincidence,
     Nwiido met the Shell team returning to Port Harcourt as he was
     coming home on his motorcycle. (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

     Nwiido stopped the Shell vehicles and asked what was going on. He
     was told to see the Shell Community Director in Port Harcourt but
     he replied that he could not do that because he was afraid for his
     safety and because he knew from experience that he would not be
     allowed inside the gate. Instead, Nwiido said he wanted to keep
     one of the vehicles and, apparently, he was allowed to keep the
     fire truck at his house. (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

     On June 10 or 11, the police came to Nwiido's house, saying they
     wanted to remove the truck to Bori, the district center. Friday
     refused and the police returned with the local government chairman
     who said he was willing to pay N.500 to each of Nwiido's men
     because his possession of the truck was affecting his job as
     chairman. They pleaded with Friday but he refused, saying he would
     only talk to Shell and not to middlemen. On June 15, the police
     came to the village with tear-gas and guns. The villagers ran to
     Nwiido, according to an observer on the scene, "immediately
     surrendered himself to the police. With his hands up and outside
     his own house, he was shot in the legs and put into the boot
     [trunk] of the police car by the Divisional Police Officer and the
     Area Commander. That was the last time that Friday was seen."
     (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

     For five days, Nwiido's mother searched for her son. She was not
     allowed into the Shell compound in Port Harcourt, but told to go
     to the nearby Rumuibekwe police station from where she was sent to
     the Shell clinic; there an Ogoni nurse told her that her son had
     died. His body apparently had been deposited in the teaching
     hospital where she was told that she could only inspect the name
     in the mortuary register; the body could only be seen with police
     permission. (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

     Another version of the story, that quotes Nwiido's mother is
     consistent:

          I don't know who called my son. He suddenly reappeared
          from his workplace and walked into the invading force
          with his hands raised in surrender. As he came he was
          shouting, "I am the one, I didn't hijack any vehicle,
          Shell is owing me and I want my money." He cried as the
          police fired live bullets at him at close range. He was
          hit on his thighs several times. He fell down, bleeding
          profusely. He was carried from the ground by one of the
          police offices and dumped in the boot. I hired a car
          immediately and followed the police who were retreating
          after killing my child. When they noticed that we were
          following them, they stopped us. We diverted and
          monitored them up to the police station at Bori, Ogoni.
          I saw when Shell vehicles stopped and entered the police
          station. The police held brief talks with Shell and
          Khana local government officials. (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

          From there, we moved to Port Harcourt. My son was crying
          in pains as they drove on. Some of the police vans had
          left the convey remaining in some unmarked cars. It was
          when they stopped over in Shell clinic at Rumukrushi,
          Port Harcourt that I missed my way. I went to the
          military hospital where they told me that there was no
          body like that. I visited all the government and Shell
          hospitals in Port Harcourt but I could not find my son.
          It was at the Shell hospital somebody I will not mention
          his name, told me that really the boy was brought there
          alive and after several secret talks with the medical
          personnel, they transferred him to the Mini-Okoro police
          station. At Mini-Okoro, another reliable source told me
          that the boy was executed on Saturday and that the
          people who were present during the shooting were the
          Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), Divisional Police
          Officer (DPO), Area Commander, one man nicknamed Ahoada
          and two others. (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

          To confirm the source, I was told that the corpse was
          deposited at the mortuary of the University of Port
          Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH). I went there and saw
          the corpse of my son. I then went back to report all my
          ordeals to Hon. Emmanuel Deeyah, Commissioner for
          special duties in Rivers State. I told the commissioner
          that I want to see the Governor, Dr. Odili, since I
          voted for him. On 29 June 2001, Deeyah held a meeting
          with us in his office. Present at the meeting were our
          village head, elders, youth and the chairman Khana local
          government council, Hon. Letam Korsi. The Ogoni
          commissioner blamed those who attended for allowing the
          poor to die. (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

          Up till now I am still waiting for the corpse of my son.
          I want to bury him -- the police, Shell council
          officials, and the village council are all responsible
          for my child's death. I will say these things anywhere,
          any day. Please quote me anywhere, I have read what
          Shell and the police are saying in the Nigerian media,
          they are all liars. (Ashton-Jones, 2001)



     The Travail of Ogoniland Continues

     As the third millennium dawned, an old story continued in
     Ogoniland: poorly maintained oil-drilling infrastructure continued
     to leak and blow up, as anyone who spoke out against the
     devastation risked death. The August 31, 2001 issue of Drillbits &
     Tailings was dedicated

          to the memory of Mr. Vincent Ifelodun Bolarin Oyinbo
          (also known as Bola), his family and friends, the Ilaje
          people, all people of the Niger Delta, and the staff and
          volunteers of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the
          Earth, Nigeria. Environmental Rights Action/Friends of
          the Earth (ERA/FoEN), Nigeria notified friends and
          allies that Bola passed on to the great beyond on July
          19, 2001 in Lagos, Nigeria at the age of 36 while
          preparing for a trip to the United States. ERA/FoEN said
          a death certificate issued by a private medical clinic
          in Lagos put the cause of his death as cardiac arrest.
          But relatives and friends say he never had a history of
          heart problems. Bola was one of the 100 peaceful
          protesters on the Parabe offshore platform who were
          attacked by the Nigerian military in helicopters
          operated by Chevron personnel. He was held for 12 days
          and tortured by the Nigerian military personnel. Bola
          witnessed bribes given by Chevron employees to the
          military personnel who attacked and arrested him. His
          trip to the United States was to receive medical
          treatment from injuries he sustained during this attack
          and to work on a court case filed against Chevron by
          communities in the Niger Delta. (Drillbits, 2001)

     Within a week of Bola's death, the Niger Delta was afflicted with
     yet another massive oil spill. People living in the community of
     Ogbodo, on the banks of the Miniamu River, "were engulfed with
     irritating odor and itching every morning." Isiri Alison, an
     observer, related that "We no longer drink from the rivers. As an
     emergency measure, Shell supplied few liters of water to the 15
     families that make us Ogbodo. Apart from the one I saw with my
     eyes, everyone here complained that the water Shell supplied is
     dirty and smells. Many people simply threw theirs away."
     (Drillbits, 2001)

     As of August 21, 2001, community leaders from Gokana, Ogoniland
     reported that fires caused by ruptured pipelines owned and
     operated by Shell Oil had been burning for two months with no
     response from authorities. "Agency reports yesterday [August 20,
     2001] that the community faced being ravaged by `devastation of
     unimaginable proportion' unless urgent steps were taken to put off
     the `scores of fires ignited by pipeline excavators,'" said The
     Guardian news agency in Lagos. (Shell Oil, 2001) Other news
     correspondents reported that farmland has been lost to the fires.

     In June 1997, when Shell refused to pay compensation for a 1982
     oil spill (defying a local court order), members of four affected
     Ijaw communities gave Shell an ultimatum to leave the oil
     producing area by July 8, or be forced out. Hours before the
     deadline expired, the leader of the community protest was arrested
     by the State Security Service (SSS). A local observer wrote that:
     "Worried that the said payments will encourage other legitimate
     compensation demands, Shell has alerted the security forces and
     this morning Mr. Matthew Eregbene has been whisked away," said a
     spokesman for the Niger Delta Oil-Producing Communities
     Development Organization. (Shell: 100 Years, 1997)

     In Bayelsa State, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has called on Shell
     Petroleum Development Company, the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell
     Oil, to cease all operations at the Nun River flow station in
     response to the murder of a 22-year old Ijaw man by the mobile
     police, the infamous "Kill and Go." At about the same time, the
     Lagos newspaper This Day reported that by August, 2001, 4,835 oil
     spills totaling almost 2.4 million barrels of crude oil had
     afflicted the Niger delta. (Lowri, 2001)

     Drillbits & Tailings November, 2001 reported that another
     oil-related accident had claimed several more lives: "An oil
     pipeline owned by the Royal Dutch Shell exploded, killing as many
     as 15 people and injuring 14 others. The explosion occurred at
     Umidike in Imo State on November 5, 2001. Ironically, Drillbits &
     Tailings noted that Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) the
     previous October had called for the introduction of a national
     environmental and safety standard in the Nigerian oil and gas
     industry that meets international standards. (Hotspots: Nigeria,
     2001)

     Meanwhile, to quell any popular expression of notions that
     something might be dreadfully wrong in the oil fields, the
     Nigerian government set up a special committee to ensure total
     security for oil-producing areas. The authorities demanded that "a
     recent siege" in the oil producing areas by "restive youths,
     communal agitators and economic saboteurs" must end. The new
     committee signaled increasing vigilence on the part of the
     military against any sign of unhappiness among the Ogoni. Chief
     Ekaette explained that the recent "terrorism" had made the assured
     security of oil installations an urgent imperative. Felix Ekure,
     Delta State chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria
     (NYCN), warned that unless the youths of the Niger Delta are
     included in the development of the region, "The country may know
     no peace." (Hotspots: Nigeria, 2001)

     Oil-related disasters in Ogoniland have assumed a daily
     regularity. The Lagos Vanguard, on July 18, 2001, for example,
     carried, on page 7, a report describing how three children had
     died in Akwa Ibom by drowning in uncapped oil wells belonging to
     Shell Producing Nigeria Ltd. Addressing the World Conference of
     Mayors in Eket, Gov. Victor Attah said that "Shell callously left
     uncapped wells in whichthree young children have so far drowned."
     Narrating the "evil side" of oil exploitation in the area by
     Exxon-Mobil, Addax and Elf oil companies, he said that pollution,
     environmental degradation, terminal diseases and birth defects had
     affected many people in oil producing areas." (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

     The same newspaper, on the same day and the same page carried the
     headline: "Oil Spill: Strange Illness Hits Rivers Community." In
     the Ogbodo Isioko community in Ikwere area of the Rivers region,
     where (the) June 25 oil spill of Shell Petroleum Development
     Company (SPDC) occurred, [residents] have reported strange
     ailments among its people which they said, had claimed four lives.
     The community said the spill, "which spread quite extensively on
     the only stream that provided (the) source of drinking water for
     the area." (Ashton-Jones, 2001)

     In the midst of all this, Royal Dutch-Shell told a reporter for
     the Wall Street Journal that its "more urgent concern is to
     protect Ogoni lives and avert disaster." (Moore, 2002, A-10) The
     company also said it plans to spend $7.5 billion to extract 300
     million barrels of remaining oil reserves in the region. This
     particular account portrays the oil company as a victim of "local
     hostility," as well as enterprising theives who can sell a
     purloined 25-foot section of oil pipeline for $87, or more than an
     average Nigerian construction worker earns in a month. (Moore,
     2002, A-10) Children are said in this account to "flock to the
     theft sites, collecting leftover oil with plastic bottles to sell
     to those who use it as medicine or to frightn away evil spirits."
     (Moore, 2002, A-10) Shell executives are portrayed here as
     lamenting local hostility that keeps them from helping clean up
     the mess. "We have pleaded with the Ogoni people to to let us come
     and make those wells safe," says Hubert Nwokolo, Shell's general
     manager of community development in Nigeria. "What worries me is
     one day we'll have a blowout and then they'll say, `Shell, they
     planned it, they want to kill us all.'" (Moore, 2002, A-10)




     FURTHER READING

        * Ashton-Jones, Nick. "Causes of Terrorism? Shell Oil in
          Nigeria, 1993 to 2001." October, 2001.
          [http://www.shell-terror.net/]

        * Drillbits & Tailings 6:7 (August 31, 2001)
          [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/protecting_knowledge/message/1770]

          [http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/motherlode/chevron/chevinfo.html]

          [http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/6_07/3.html]

        * "Environmental Injustice" in Catherine Baldi, ed. Drillbits &
          Tailings 6:9 (November 30, 2001)
          [http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/motherlode/chevron/wto2001_nov.html]

        * Gedicks, Al. Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining and
          Oil Corporations. Boston: South End Press, 2001.

        * "Hotspots: Nigeria," in Catherine Baldi, ed. Drillbits &
          Tailings 6:9 (November 30, 2001)
          [http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/6_09/hotspots.html]

        * Lwori, John. "Niger Delta Records 4,835 Oil Spills in 20
          Years," This Day (Lagos, Nigeria), August 3, 2001, in
          Drillbits & Tailings, 6:7(August 31, 2001).
          [http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/6_07/]

        * Moore, Sarah. "For Shell, Nigerian Debacle Isn't the End of
          the Line: Danger Lurks in Ogoniland for People and Firm, but
          the Place Beckons." Wall Street Journal, January 10, 2002,
          A-10.

        * "Nigeria: Focus on Ogoni Oil Spill." Intergrated Regional
          Information Networks. United Nations Office for the
          Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, June 12, 2001.
          [http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200106130090.html]
          [http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,3,3283.jsp]
          [www.irinnews.org]

        * Project Underground. "More Blood is Spilled for Oil in the
          Niger Delta." Drillbits & Tailings 4:20(December 11, 1999),
          N.p.
          [http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/4_20/1.html]

        * Robinson, Deborah. Ogoni: The Struggle Continues. Geneva,
          Switzerland: World Council of Churches, 1996 (2nd Ed.)

        * Saro-Wiwa, Ken. Genocide in Nigeria: The Ogoni Tragedy. Port
          Harcourt, Nigeria: Saros International Publishers, 1992.

        * "Shell: 100 years is enough!" October, 1997.
          [http://www.kemptown.org/shell/rest.html]

        * "Shell Oil Spills Continue to Ravage Communities and the
          Environment in Nigeria." Drillbits & Tailings 6:7(August 31,
          2001)
          [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/protecting_knowledge/message/1770]

          [http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/6_07/3.html]

        * "Shell says Ogoni Oil Blow-out Now under Control." May 7,
          2001.
          Integrated Regional Information Networks. United Nations
          Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, June
          12, 2001.
          [www.irinnews.org]
          [http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200105070222.html]

        * Wiwa, Owens. Like Oil and Water: The Ogoni in Nigeria.
          August, 2000.
          [http://www.dghonline.org/nl7/owens.html]



     Bruce E. Johansen, Professor of Communication and Native American
     Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is working on a
     worldwide survey of indigenous peoples and environmental issues
     for Greenwood Press. Last updated: 2/8/2002. Publication of this
     work is expected to be in late 2003.





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