By Yahaya Umar
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People ,MOSOP, has called on the Nigerian government to investigate the alleged looting a $300 million compensation and infrastructure fund in Ogoniland.
The group described the act as a betrayal of the people and a gross denial of justice.
The fund, secured through an out-of-court settlement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company ,NNPC, Limited, was meant to address decades-long underdevelopment and compensate the Ogoni people as part of efforts to resolve the historic oil conflict in the region.
According to MOSOP President, Mr Fegalo Nsuke, the alleged looting of the fund amounts to a deliberate effort to stall the region’s development and prolong the suffering of its people.
“It is important for the Ogoni people to know what happened to their $300 million infrastructural development fund. This is no joke. Such money cannot be allocated to solve critical national problems which have lingered for over three decades and it ends up in the pockets of a few people while the problem persists”, he said in Port Harcourt.
Mr Nsuke, who had previously expressed skepticism about the existence of the fund, said there is now “overwhelming evidence” of misappropriation, and called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to launch an immediate probe.
“We want accountability. The only way the Nigerian government can absolve itself of blame is to initiate a probe and get the money returned to work for Ogoni”, he said.
The MOSOP president emphasized that the looted fund, if properly managed, could have provided basic infrastructure including clean water, electricity, roads, and improved education for thousands of Ogoni residents.
“The money in question could have addressed the water crisis, electricity, roads, and education needs of our people. We cannot be crying of human rights violations in Ogoni while we do this to ourselves.
“We actually had a solution, and personal greed thwarted it. This is a worse form of injustice than some of the allegations we have leveled against the Nigerian state”.
Describing the theft as “economic injustice of the highest order”, Mr Nsuke insisted that silence from the federal government would only fuel suspicions of complicity.
“Ogoni people want this problem to be resolved. The starting point should be an investigation into what happened to the $300 million infrastructural development fund paid by the NNPC. We want a probe now and want the money back.
“People cannot share some $300 million meant for social development and expect the people to be silent. Ogoni is now fully aware the money was allocated to drive development in the land and the money is in private pockets”.
The MOSOP leader called on anti-corruption agencies, civil society organizations, and international partners to support efforts aimed at recovering the funds and ensuring that justice is delivered to the Ogoni people.
