Port Harcourt— OGONI have been told to maintain their non-violent in their struggle for a better society.
National president, Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, (MOSOP) Mr. Ledum Mitee who handed down the advice weekend in Rivers State at a ceremony to commemorate the death of Ken Saro wiwa and other Ogoni heroes regretted the implication of violence in the Niger Delta struggle.
He said though it had attracted attention to the plights of the region but it had also created room for this legitimate interest to be passed as criminal interest.

"Most importantly we must remember that our non-violent stance still has value and that is why our struggle continues to attract international recognition.

Although the use of kidnapping and violence may have drawn attention to the Niger Delta, but we must realise that it has opened space for legitimate grievances to be marginalized as criminal interests.”
He advised that for true and enduring peace to return to the region government should recognise the need for oil producing communities to be treated as stakeholders in the resources generated from their soil.

Affirming support for the proposed clean up of spill sites in Ogoni by UNEP MOSOP however urged all parties in the project to be transparent. “Whether called resource control, royalties, or derivation, we do not believe that the current situation in the Niger Delta can be addressed until communities feel that they are getting a fair and direct share of oil revenues that are being taken from their land.