MOSOP makes case for pipeline security amid rising oil spills

2026-02-08 - 14:39

By Daniel Abia The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has called on Ogoni youths to take responsibility for protecting oil facilities in their respective communities. MOSOP further called on oil operators in the Ogoni region, especially Shell, to liaise with the Ogoni people on how best to secure the pipelines and prevent increasingly damaging oil spillages. President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, made the call at a meeting with youth leaders in Gokana Local Government Area, Rivers State, on the weekend of 2026. Nsuke said the frequency of oil spills in Ogoni was very concerning and threatened the people’s very existence and survival. He specifically noted that a recent oil spill in Yorla, Khana local government area, was devastating to the environment, and that such incidents need to be prevented. “Our struggle had essentially been anchored on the devastation caused by decades of pollution. We are now seeing an increase in the rate of pollution, and it is important that we begin to consider ways of preventing it,” he said. “I will advise that as youths, you should be willing to collaborate with relevant authorities on the best ways to secure the pipelines and wellheads. If these spills are not checked, we will someday be faced with a major humanitarian crisis that could wipe out entire communities, and we do not have to wait till then before we act.” “I would like to see community youths helping to protect our villages from devastating spills by collaborating with experts and with relevant authorities on facility protection. Let’s not wait until our villages are submerged by oil spills before we act,” He said. While noting that unscrupulous industry experts connive with thieves to vandalise facilities within the Ogoni area, Nsuke said it is important for the youths to be more vigilant and report suspected activities around the oilfields to relevant security agencies. He said there has to be an alliance and collaboration with relevant security agencies to protect our communities from harmful oil spills. He also called on the federal government to act on the report of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee submitted to the president through the Office of the National Security Adviser, noting that government action on the report was necessary to build the confidence of the Ogoni people in the dialogue process. He warned that, given the high level of social consciousness, the losses, persecutions, and deaths, and the alertness of the Ogoni people on issues of oil and the environment, the government needs to do something different from what was obtainable during Shell’s 35 years in Ogoni. “After losing thousands of lives and having entire communities being destroyed, leaders being murdered, and untold sufferings in the hands of Nigeria’s security agencies, especially under the Abacha regime, the Nigerian government should understand that Ogoni people would expect something different from what was previously obtainable during the 35 years of Shell’s active drilling in the area.”, he said. Vanguard News