NIGERIA: Violence erupts as Shell begins operations
Police and military forces swept into K. Dere, a village in Nigeria's Niger River delta, on April 11, in response to peaceful protests against the efforts of Royal Dutch Shell to restart its operations in Ogoniland. According to residents, security forces killed five people and burned 20 homes.
"As well as the many people killed and injured by the police, we are now receiving reports that the weak and the aged who are in the bush are beginning to die in significant numbers", said Deeka Menegbon, general secretary of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
K. Dere is a community of 10,000 adults in central Ogoniland. Shell was forced to cease operations throughout Ogoniland in 1993, when 300,000 Ogoni protested Shell's destruction of their land. The leader of MOSOP, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was hanged by the Nigerian government in 1995.
Since that time, evidence has confirmed that thousands of Ogoni have been beaten, raped, tortured and murdered for protesting against Shell. Two million barrels of oil, valued at US$17 billion, are pumped from Nigeria each day by Shell and other oil companies operating in the country.
In late March, Shell contractors began construction of a road. The protests in K. Dere highlighted the contractors' failure to hire local labour for the construction project.
The Swift Operations Squad entered the community unannounced two weeks after the protests took place. One young man, Barinaada Gbaraka, was killed during the first incursion into the village. Police officers were injured as the residents fought to protect themselves.
Several hours later, 21 police trucks and an armoured personnel carrier arrived. The forces set about burning houses and killing more people. The police stated that they went to K. Dere to quell "inter-community" violence.
"We are aware of police sources giving at least three entirely different reasons for the raids", said Menegbon. "These are desperate excuses by authorities who have used excessive violence".
Shell's attempt to construct a road in Ogoniland and the accompanying violence came as the Ogoni people were preparing for Ken Saro-Wiwa's funeral. The government had recently returned the remains to the family, and an April 24 burial was scheduled.
[From Drillbits & Tailings, published bi-monthly by Project Underground. Visit <http://www.moles.org>.]