NIGERIA'S CRIMES TO CONTINUE The people suffer as Shell goes for the 'business as usual' policy ------------------------------- According to judicial sources in Port Harcourt a further 19 Ogonis have been charged with complicity in the killings which resulted in the murder of nine Ogonis a fortnight ago. If convicted when they appear in January before the same tribunal which arrived at the previous sentence they also will probably be murdered by the Nigerian state. The regional military administrator in Ogoniland, Colonel Dauda Musa Komo, also confirmed that many more people are expected to be tried and murdered by the Nigerian regime. Major Obi Abel Umahi - who effectively rules Ogoniland - aims is to eradicate the memory of those nine who have already been murdered. Public expression of grief is not allowed. Umahi says: 'Unnecessary sentiment and emotionalism has been built into this. People who are not well informed are vulnerable to all this propaganda. It will not do them good to dwell on it'. Anyone wearing black is beaten up for making a political statement and if people are found in possession of documents - for example newspapers - which mention the names of the nine who have already been murdered they are whipped. Priests have been warned that their sermons are being monitored and that it is an offence to mention the names of those who have been murdered. Teachers have received similar warnings. The regime feels it has successfully crushed the people in the area: 'To the best of our knowledge there's no Mosop here,' says Umahi, 'They do not operate any more because people blame them for their problems'. The Ogonis say otherwise. One person living in the area said, 'We Ogoni are not happy... They arrest us, beat us, harass us. We cannot say we are for Mosop anymore or the police attack us'. Apart from the police the Ogoni also blame other parties: 'Shell is still rich. But what of us?' They say speaking of the company whose pipelines cover the area. The wealth of the area seeps out via these pipelines on a daily basis. The people receive nothing in return. Based on information from The Guardian 25/11/95 FREEDOM PRESS http://www.lglobal.com/TAO/Freedom