The Nigerian government is pushing to restart oil production in Ogoniland, more than 30 years after operations were halted.
This decision has reignited long-standing tensions in the Niger Delta.
The Ogoni people have been at the forefront of a nonviolent struggle to combat the destruction of the region’s ecosystem, which has had serious health and social repercussions on the population due to oil pollution caused by various multinational companies operating in the Delta area.
In the late 1990s, the intellectual Ken Saro-Wiwa was the leader of this struggle and for this reason he was investigated on false charges and sentenced to death in 1995. He was hanged despite international protests.
Faced with the prospect of new facilities, the Ogoni people argue that previous oil drilling has severely polluted their land and waterways and that the environmental damage has never been adequately remediated.
Many fear that a return to oil production would worsen the risks to their health and livelihoods.
