Stakeholders under the auspices of Ogoni Business Owners in America (OBOA) have called for the declaration of armed herdsmen as a terrorist organisation.

The president of OBOA and traditional ruler in Ogoniland, Chief Anthony Waadah, lamented that armed herdsmen and bandits were unleashing violence on rural communities, destroying farmlands, and killing innocent citizens across Nigeria.

Waadah, in the statement tagged “Ken Saro-Wiwa Lives On: the unfinished struggle for justice, dignity, and accountability in Ogoniland,” emphasised that the Ogoni people would no longer fold their arms in the face of victimisation.

He said, “Let it be known that Ogonis will lawfully defend themselves, their land, and their families with every legitimate means available. Self-defense is not rebellion; it is a universal human right.”

The monarch called for proper clean-up of the polluted environment, remediation, and justice for the Ogoni people before the resumption of oil exploration in the area.

Waadah warned against an attempt to resume the oil business in the area without fulfilling the conditions

The monarch said, “Do not be in a hurry to reopen oil operations in Ogoniland. Do not impose policies or decisions upon a people still bleeding from the wounds of environmental destruction and injustice,” he cautioned.

“First, clean the land, account for how the one billion dollars and the missing three hundred million dollars were spent. Third, rebuild the trust that has been destroyed for decades. Our land is not for sale, our conscience is not for rent, and our heritage is not negotiable”.

Waadah said that despite $1bn spent so far, the Ogoni environment had not been properly cleaned.

He said, “If you walk through Ogoniland today, it does not look like a place where such a humongous amount of money has been spent. The water remains polluted, the soil is poisoned, the air is toxic, and our people continue to die of preventable diseases.”

He asked the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to remember the vision of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni struggle and demanded accountability and transparency in its operations.

He called for an investigation into the alleged disappearance of an additional $300million from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

He also used the platform to call for educational and developmental reforms in Ogoniland and urged the Federal Government to establish a Federal Government College in Ogoni to complement the Federal University of Education.

“The future of Ogoni cannot be built on oil pipelines alone; it must be built on knowledge, skills, and opportunity,” he said. (NATION)