NATIONAL UNION OF OGONI STUDENTS

[NUOS INTL], USA

2517 W DEVON AVE. STE 5, CHICAGO IL 60659, USA

www.nuos-ogoni.org-nuos.intl@gmail.com-773-250-7004 .

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI

00120 via del Pellegrino

Citta-del-Vatican

Italy

January 27, 2006

SAVE OGONI IMMEDIATELY

BEFORE WE ARE ALL KILLED

His Holiness,

The National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS International USA) wishes to congratulate you on your appointment as the Pope of the Catholic Church and the head of the Christian community. We would like to use this medium to express our grief and sorrow over the death of Pope John Paul II. May God give you and the Church the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss and a successful tenure as the Pope, Amen.

We also wish to thank you and the Catholic Church for standing by our side during the tough times in the history of our struggle which took many innocent lives, including the life of our leader, the late Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists who were hanged by the former Nigerian dictator, late General Sani Abacha in 1995. The Catholic Church which has about 50% of your member out of 90% Ogoni Christians assisted   inrehabilitating our people when we were displaced due to Shell/Nigerian armed forces attacks on our villages in the early 1990s.

His Holiness, in October 1990, the Ogoni people with a population of over 500,000 of the 137 million Nigerians sent a document known as the Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR) to the Nigerian government and Shell. This document, among others, demanded a fair share of our oil revenue that we had been denied since oil activities started on our land in 1958, and the cleaning of our environment by   Shell. Instead of the government/Shell  dialoguing with us, they resorted to violence as a way to silence us and make us abandon our legitimate demands. We resisted and continue to resist such moves through non-violent means.
 

Because of Shell's refusal to meet our demands, the company was declared "persona non-grata" in Ogoniland since 1993 till today. Now Shell wants to return to our land without fulfilling any of our demands. This time, Shell and the government have used one of our respected priests, Reverend Fr Matthew Kukah, to work against us.   He has participated in several meetings where the government and Shell have finalized arrangements to deploy armed troops to Ogoni to facilitate the return of Shell to resume operations in Ogoni. As part of this plan, a list of all Movement for the Survival of Ogoni [MOSOP] activists opposed to any forced resumption of oil operations in Ogoni has been compiled and forwarded to plain-clothed detectives who are presently monitoring the activities of these activists now in Ogoni. While we remain committed to dialogue as the only way forward, we are very suspicious of Fr. Kukah and our suspicion is based on the fact that he has deliberately refused to use his position as a peacemaker to influence the government to drop this ugly plan that will not only result in the loss of more innocent lives, but will also heighten the already tense atmosphere in Ogoni.
 

In 2002, Reverend Fr. Matthew Kukah was appointed by the same President Olusegun Obasanjo's government as the Secretary of the defunct Oputa Human Rights Panel to investigate human rights abuses committed by past military and civilian administrations. The Oputa Panel, fashioned after the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, submitted its report, and specifically recommended that the government and Shell take immediate steps to address the demands of the Ogoni people. However, it is sad to note that the government has bluntly refused to release or implement the reports till today.

Instead of Reverend Fr. Matthew Kukah prevailing on the government to release and implement the report of the panel, of which he was a participant, he accepted another government appointment in 2005 to serve as the Secretary of the National Political Reform Conference without any hesitation. The Reform Conference also ended in disarray just as the Oputa Panel ended. Shortly after his appointment as a member of the Reform Conference, Fr. Kukah was again appointed by President Olusegun Obasanjo as the Chairman of the Ogoni/Shell Reconciliation Committee.
 

To this day, no terms of reference or specific time frame has been drawn to show genuineness and/or seriousness. No other members has been appointed by the government to work with Reverend Fr. Kukah. He repeatedly held clandestine meetings with government officials, Shell Oil and security forces to plot ways of ensuring that Shell resumes oil operations in Ogoni without addressing our demands.

Not only has Reverend Fr. Kukah failed to speak the truth and defend the powerless as a man of God, but he has promised hell for Ogoni if the people do not allow Shell into Ogoni. His statements to the press are very worrisome and embarrassing to the Catholic community in Ogoniland and the entire country. He has also abandoned his legitimate place in the Church as a priest by assuming the new role of spokesman for the government and Shell Oil while downplaying the atrocities committed by this duo against the Ogoni people and other impoverished oil bearing communities of the Niger Delta.
 

We find his romance with the Nigerian government and Shell as betrayal of trust and a negation of the principles of justice which he has sworn to uphold as a priest.
 

Once again, His Holiness, the National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS International USA), on behalf of the entire Ogoni people, implore you to use your good office to prevail on the government of Nigeria and Shell to stop all forms of violence against us, and open up genuine negotiation based on our bill of rights. The first step toward resolving this conflict is to clear the name of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other leaders who were falsely convicted and hanged. The second step is to create an Ogoni State which will enable us to deal with/ resolve some of our problems locally. Finally, we respectfully appeal to you that you commission an envoy to embark on a fact-finding mission to Ogoni and address all parties involved in this conflict. We also request humbly that you prevail on Rev. Fr. Matthew Kukah to stop his diabolic collaboration with the rulers of Nigeria and Shell whose only interest is to keep the oil wells active with no regard or concern for the ordinary citizens of Ogoni.

We thank you, once again, for the spiritual direction you continue to give to the Christian community worldwide and look forward to getting a response on the issues we have raised at your earliest convenience.
 

Sincerely yours,

Pius Barikpoa Nwinee

Chairman, Caretaker Committee

Blessing Wifa

Secretary, Caretaker Committee

Freddie Idamkue
Member Caretaker Committee