The Africa Fund
New York, New York, United States
September 9, 1998
1 page
The Africa Fund welcomed the release of twenty Nigerian environmental activists after over four years unjust and brutal imprisonment. The release of the “Ogoni 20,” supporters of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), has been a major demand of the international human rights and environmental movements. Both the Nigerian military dictatorship and the Shell Oil Company, the largest producer of Nigerian oil, have been targets for protest actions and economic boycotts. The twenty prisoners of conscience were rushed to the hospital for urgent medical treatment after their long incarceration. They were awaiting trail on the same false charges...
The Africa Fund welcomed the release of twenty Nigerian environmental activists after over four years unjust and brutal imprisonment. The release of the “Ogoni 20,” supporters of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), has been a major demand of the international human rights and environmental movements. Both the Nigerian military dictatorship and the Shell Oil Company, the largest producer of Nigerian oil, have been targets for protest actions and economic boycotts. The twenty prisoners of conscience were rushed to the hospital for urgent medical treatment after their long incarceration. They were awaiting trail on the same false charges used to convict and hang MOSOP head Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists in 1995. Saro-Wiwa had been leading Ogoni opposition to the Shell Oil Company’s environmental and human rights abuses in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger River Delta. Since the death of Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha in June, his successor, General Abdulsalam Abubaker, has released some political prisoners and announced a new timetable for elections and the return of civil government. The press release identifies Mike Fleshman as the contact person.
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Used by permission of Africa Action (successor to The Africa Fund).
