Ethnic group that live on the Niger delta in southern Nigeria.
The Ogoni number about 500,000 and have lived in the
area for 500 years. They speak four related languages.
The delta is rich in oil which the petroleum company Shell has exploited without regard for the envirnoment or the indigenous Ogoni. The Nigerian military and the corporate oil executives have colluded in suppressing envirnomental activism.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People or MOSOP has demanded economic,social and environmental justice for the people of Ogoniland. In 1995, the leader of MOSOR, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others were executed by the military junta. MOSOP were excluded from elections the following year.
Many MOSOP activists have since gone into exile and the repression of the Ogoni people continues.