A group known as the Ogoni Solidarity Forum (OSF), has called for a fresh environmental assessment of the oil impacted sites in Ogoni before the clean-up begins.
Its founder, Celestine Akpobari who made the call said there had been 189 oil spills in Ogoniland after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report was published about six years ago.
He said that it would be absurd to base the intended clean-up of Ogoni environment on the over six years old report, which he said, could not be in tandem with the current environmental realities of the area.
The rights activist emphasized that there was need for reassessment of the environment before the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) embarks on the actual clean-up exercise .
Akpobari said that while the UNEP report on Ogoniland could still be relied on for clue on the extent of damage done to the environment, it could not be validly relied on to serve as the basis for any environmental remediation that will be sustainable.
He posited that Ogoni would resist any attempt to commence oil exploitation and exploration in the area until a proper clean-up of the entire area had been carried out.
“Until you clean up the mess that has been generated by the oil companies. Until you clean up that mess, there will be no need to restart oil production in Ogoni and it will not happen in our own life-time. No amount of money or bribe can make oil production resume in Ogoni.
“We cannot kill Ken Saro-Wiwa the second time,” he said.
Recall that the actual clean-up of the area has been delayed due to hick-ups.
