Feb 06, 2008

Ogoni: Nonviolence Reiterated After Statements


MOSOP has had to reiterate its firm historic adherence to nonviolence following erroneous statements from the Rivers State military.

MOSOP has had to reiterate its firm historic adherence to nonviolence following erroneous statements from the Rivers State military.

Below is an article published by the Tide Online:

The Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of Khana Local Government Area in Rivers State, Chief Friday Nkeh-eh has said that the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) was not a militant group.

Chief Nkeh-eh, who spoke with journalists in Bori, headquarters of the council last Saturday [2 February 2008], said the clarification has become imperative in order to correct a recent statement credited to the spokesman of the Joint Military Task Force in Rivers State, Lt Col Sagir Musa.

The CTC boss said MOSOP had been and would continue to be a non-violent organisation aimed at ensuring that the Ogonis get a fair deal in the Nigerian nation where they contribute to the “national cake”.

According to him, “if you call MOSOP a militant group, it then means that you are calling the Ogoni race militants. The philosophy of MOSOP is a struggle without violence and that’s why in 1993, over 500,000 Ogoni people marched without throwing a stone. It is on record. So, MOSOP is not a militant group. Perhaps, the man that is calling MOSOP a militant group has lost touch with the history of MOSOP”.

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