No more blood for Oil !

Join Donny’s struggle!

Ohia Donny fled Nigeria in 1997, when hoodlums paid by the multinational oil companies were pursuing him because of his political struggle for the defence of human rights and for the protection of the environment in the Niger Delta. He realised that the Agbo community whose interests he and his comrades were defending were not in a position to protect him against the machination of the Abacha regime and the Oil companies - when even Ken Saro Wiwe and his colleagues had been executed despite the international outcry and the support from the much larger and better organised Ogoni community.

As Donny says: ’When I fled Nigeria it was to escape the danger to my life – but it was not to escape the struggle! Most people in Nigeria know that the cause of the problems in our country rooted in international Oil companies and their policies.

The brutality of the Abacha regime that I fled from cannot be separated from the interests of the Oil companies. But where are the Oil companies based?

So, I see coming to Europe only as changing the terrain of the struggle…..’

‘…But as soon as I arrived in Germany I joined with others to expose the terrible situation that the multinationals based in Europe are causing in my country. I knew that even a little pressure from progressive minded people from Germany could reduce the danger faced by the struggling people that I had to leave behind. It is in this way that I continued my struggle…’

But it was not so easy for him to do this. The refugee camp he was put in was designed to isolate him from German society. He was confronted with various forms of humiliation in the camp and his asylum application was treated with cynicism and contempt. Despite this he got together with other Nigerians living in the area and started ‘Concerned Nigerians for Democracy’  to campaign to expose the situation in his home country.

Donny got together with refugees from many countries to fight against the inhuman treatment of refugees in Germany. But his collaboration with refugees from different countries was not limited to fighting against racism and social exclusion in Germany. He was keenly interested in the root causes of the reasons why refugees from different countries had to flee. It was his determination to practically protest against the international order that create these conditions that drove him to participate in the refugee hunger strike in Köln.

Hunger for Justice

Donny Ohia, took part in the non-violent protest of refugees from Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sri Lanka-Tamil Eelam, Kurdistan and Peru, in June 1999 in Cologne. With this symbolic hunger strike, taking place within a few Kilometres from the meeting of powerful organizers of the world order, the refugees from the different continents expressed the oppression and hunger caused by the policies of the G7 leaders. Each refugee eloquently expressed to the press and to all concerned the situation in their respective countries and the G7 leaders responsibility for it. During the 16-day hunger strike, Donny and his two Nigerian friends showed that the new Obasanjo regime, was not the dawn of democracy as was hailed by the G7 leaders. They exposed the reality behind the thin mask of democracy showing that the terror, corruption, and repression had no signs of decreasing. On behalf of the Nigerians, Donny wrote an article for the Hunger Strike Newspaper which focused on the Environmental and Human Rights consequences of the policies of the multinationals in the Niger Delta. This Newspaper was very popular and the 20,000 German language print-run was exhausted within a few days.

The Hunger Strike, where refugees representing the poor and the  oppressed of the world coming together in the same city at the same time as a contrast to the powerful representatives of the rich, was highly embarrassing to the German authorities who were hosting the G7 meeting. It was specially embarrassing to the Green Party, which was desperate to show the USA and the G7 that it is a party that is fit for power that the refugee hunger strike was situated at their Köln office. When the massive political and psychological pressure that was put on the refugees to stop the hunger strike failed the Green Party did what they promised us that they would never do – call the police the forcibly eject us. After being held for some time in police cells, we were all released eventually – but the repercussions from these events were deep and long-lasting.

Vindictive treatment

Specially for Donny the long-term consequences were terrible. The officials at the refugee camp in Tuttlingen looked in a very negative way at Donny’s central role in this public protest against the bad conditions in refugee accommodation and Germany’s asylum practice. There are some officials in positions of power working in these camps who take great pride in the asylum system in Germany and feel special animosity towards refugees who they feel should not have the nerve to criticise it. Donny’s name was prominent in the Hunger Strike publicity which received worldwide publicity. His picture even appeared in ‘the Spiegel’ with a placard blaming the German asylum system for the death of Mohhamed Ageeb. These officials took a vengeful attitude towards Donny. Despite his long stay in the camp he was not allowed to seek alternative accommodation, he could not work, and even his food supply was affected.

Not willing to withstand the long periods of social isolation, physiological and physical pressure he decided to go to the Netherlands and live there illegally. He still continued his political fight there (see the video interview we did with him in December 2002 . He was arrested by the police in the Netherlands and sent to Germany in early June 2003. He was rearrested in Tuttlingen on the 5th June and put in deportation prison on the 6th.

He started an unlimited Hunger Strike on the 5th June 2003.

Psycho Terror

The prison authorities angry that the high profile of Donny’s case, the newspaper, radio and Internet exposure brought the spotlight on to the deportation prison. As Donny says

‘From the first day of my hunger strike they applied different kinds of pressure on me at the Rottenburg deportation prison. For example, after several days, when I refused to stop the hunger strike, the doctor got men to force me on to a weighing scale and informed me that my weight had actually increased! Hostility from the authorities continued on a daily basis and their anger against me increased as it became clear that I will not stop my protest.’ *

On the 26th June, three days before the regional demonstration against the deportation prison, Donny was suddenly moved out of Rottenburg to the terrible prison hospital in Hohen-Asperg.

In Donny’s words,

‘…I was forcibly taken to Hohen-Asperg and put in a special cell with a camera and with a psychiatric patient who had obviously received strong medication. He was in a pitiable condition.’

Donny was not allowed to make phone calls to his supporters. He was isolated and put under Psycho-terror.

As Donny puts it,

‘..The message was clear. They will stop my hunger strike one way or another. For twenty four hours I thought about it. I was mentally prepared to continue the hunger strike up till the end – this was my decision, I knew that I was getting weaker – but it was under my control – I was able to deal with it. But now the situation had changed. They were clearly threatening to drug me – threatening to make me into a drug addict – where I will loose any possibility to decide anything for myself. I had not been prepared for this. I had no way to contact my comrades – I was isolated…’

’My mind went back to the situation in Nigeria which forced me to flee. When I resisted the Oil companies on behalf of my people I had no intention to flee the country. But I was put in an impossible situation where the powers against me were so strong that I could not confront them head on and survive…. ‘

‘So when on Friday morning when the authorities in Hohen-Asperg came and informed me that they are going to take my blood – I though to myself – if they can take my blood now without my consent they can also inject something into my blood stream. I then decided to tell the medical authorities there that I will stop my hunger strike. The psycho-terror had worked. So after 23 days of hunger strike I started to eat. I hope all my comrades understand my decision.’

Within a few days of stopping the Hunger Strike he was moved back to the deportation prison in Rottenburg! A few days later he decided to start the Hunger Strike again.

Pressure from the top

Every step that was taken was well publicised in the Tübingen by the support group with regular actions in support of Donny. Consequently, there has been 8 articles in the newspaper, radio coverage, strong presence on the Internet and much support for Donny.

So on the 17. July, the Regierungspräsidium Freiburg, made a press statement which basically justified the deportation and gave the message that the deportation will be carried out as soon as the courts make a decision. The way the statement was written was clearly to put political pressure on the courts that the political executive thinks that the deportation is justified.

Donny’s message

‘My attempts to build solidarity with my people, and to show solidarity with others who struggled against oppression has landed me in this situation. Some will try to limit my struggle as a fight to stay in Germany and say that my enemy is the German asylum authorities. But to me, I am one small victim of the international powers who are conducting a massive war on the people of our countries for the sake of Oil and gas.’

Even while he is in deportation prison, even when he is abused and terrorised by the German authorities, Donny sees himself as fundamentally a victim of the west’s violent scramble for oil and gas. Why does he appear to downplay the racism that he faces in Germany and all the time shift our attention to the war for oil?

If we look at the situation in Nigeria we can see what he is trying to tell us. A ‘Working Paper’ published a few days ago by the ‘International Monetary Fund’, (hardly an organisation that can be accused of left bias)  called ‘Addressing the Natural Resource Curse’ gives some facts and figures.

‘Between 1970 and 2000, the number of Nigerians living in poverty -- less than a dollar a day -- has risen to 70 per cent from 36 per cent…’ At the same time, oil revenues have boomed. Since 1965, oil has generated about $350 billion…’

The document argues that the fabulous wealth from the sale of oil has made the people very much poorer, and that oil has been a curse rather than a blessing, and goes on to argue if the system continues the way that it is the exploitation of the gas wealth of Nigeria will have the same consequences.

In fact the poorest people of Nigeria, living the most miserable life is in the Niger Delta where the oil riches are situated. The Oil companies based in Europe and USA have ruthlessly extracted the oil from the Niger Delta at massive profits. For over 30 years these companies have favoured and given support to regimes in Nigeria which has the ability to brutally suppress any resistance in the Niger Delta region. The British imposed ‘unitary structure’ of the Nigerian state has been just as important as the brutal military dictators to preserve the conditions for the extraction of the maximum oil at the least cost for the Oil companies. This structure allows brutal repression of any democratic movement based in the Niger Delta region which assert their rights to have access to the resources of their region – on the grounds that it is a separatist movement threatening the unity of the country.

But what Donny, and people like him have always asked us to question is – unity for whom? Is the Unitary System imposed by the colonial British meant to bring the Nigerian people together – against the British !!?? Are the Oil companies promoting the Nigerian dictators in order to build a united Nigerian people?? Donny’s struggle is of a struggle for democracy from below – from the grass roots community. He started with his own people – the Agbo, a community of one million people living in the Niger Delta - a small community in terms of Nigeria. He was researching into the destruction of the environment and the means of existence for his people because of the actions of the oil companies. His struggle was based on his community but his inspiration was the great Ogoni human rights leader from the Niger Delta, Ken Saro-Wiwa. He understood that he had to start with his people, to defend the rights of his community and mobilise it, before reaching the next stage of uniting with the other struggling communities against the common enemy. But the political pressure he and his colleagues put on the oil companies yielded a swift and brutal response from them and Donny had to escape. He fled Nigeria in July 1997 less than an year after Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight colleagues were executed by the Nigerian Dictator Abacha.

His hope that in coming to Germany he can continue his struggle in ‘a different terrain’ received a big blow when the German Bundesamt determined that he has nothing fear from the Abacha regime! If Donny had seen the Frankfurter Rundschau, just a month before he fled Nigeria, he would have seen that the last thing that the German government wanted here was a Nigerian human rights activist. 

On the 6th of June 1997, at the height of human rights violations by the Abacha military regime, the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper reported in an article with the headline 'Industry wants to trade with the Nigerian Junta undisturbed':

'The German industry is exerting pressure on the German government, in order to continue economic relations with the military dictatorship in Nigeria without heeding complaints about human rights violations '.

The firms included Alcatel, Kabelmetall, BASF, Julius Berger, Daimler-Benz, Dornier-Daimler-Benz Aerospace, Lufthansa and the Nigeria Business Council.

Unperturbed, Donny appealed to the German courts, hoping that justice can be found here. But, by the time the courts heard his case the dictator Abacha had died.   

The death of Abacha provided the golden opportunity for the business interests to push forward their agenda. During a period characterised by media confusion and manipulation, the German government rushed to make statements expressing optimism about the democratisation process taking place in Nigeria. Even before the so-called military transition had started, Germany had started with obscene haste to charter special planes to deport people to Nigeria.

The message from the courts to Donny and other political refugees from Nigeria was – OK you may have been in danger from the Abacha regime but now there is democracy – go to your country and help to build this democracy!!

But, as Donny points out Obasanjo, despite the civilian clothes he wears now, is a former a military dictator. In terms of repression and terror – he has not changed his spots. Donny has pointed to the objective facts, which show that however you measure it - the death toll under Obasanjo is even more that under Abacha. The crisis in the Niger Delta has certainly worsened resulting in massive bloodshed. The new element in the picture is the explicit involvement of the US – which has given the Nigerian regime 6 war ships to destroy the current resistance in the Niger Delta. What is new is that the Obasanjo regime have given explicit legal powers to the ‘security personal’ like those who tried to kill Donny to do their dirty work. So what is called the rise of democracy in Nigeria is that the USA and the Oil Companies have far more rights to use military force to protect and utilise ‘their’ oil supplies. Democracy for the super rich minority with brutal repression for the poor.

The meaning of Donny’s message for us

The isolation Donny faced in Germany are two-fold. The first aspect is to be put in an desolate asylum camp designed by the authorities to humiliate refugees and isolate them from German society. The second is to be politically isolated - because the message that he wanted to deeply to be brought to the attention of the German progressive community found little resonance.

With Donny emphasising his plight as a ‘victim of the war for oil’, his message to us is that the second aspect is the fundamental one. The first aspect, that the same German government which would go along with German big business interests in Nigeria and ignore the human rights of the Nigerian people, should also treat refugees badly was not surprising or remarkable for him. But after his strenuous work with ‘Concerned Nigerians for Democracy’, after his sacrifice together with other refugees at the Hunger Strike in Köln in June 1999, there was no real engagement from any part of German society regarding the long and bloody war for oil in Nigeria.     

Through his political work in Germany he met many people, he became well known, so he could have made different arrangements to stay in the country – like for example getting married. But this gentle and modest man rejected other possibilities open to him which would enable him to stay in Germany and rather insisted on being accepted for who he was - a political refugee fleeing the terror of USA and Europe’s war for oil in Nigeria. Donny is an a researcher - if he somehow normalised his stay in Germany and not waited for asylum – he could have integrated into German society in the spirit of Otto Schilly’s ‘migration plan’. He could have transformed himself into what Schilly would call the kind of ‘migrant that Germany needs’ than to be ‘a refugee that needs Germany’. He could have become an immigrant who connected with Germany’s ‘economic needs’ and stopped insisting on the primacy the human rights considerations implied by political asylum. He could have joined in with the Indian and African software engineers or other intellectual workers from the ‘third world’ where the education they have received which has been paid for by the poorest people in the world can be extracted for the interests of the German economy – thus contributing to widen the gap between the rich and poor countries. But he did not do these things.

Instead Donny has chosen a path which has put him in a situation that even in order to support his struggle you have to take a stand against the oppression of his people in the Niger Delta. Donny’s situation obliges us to learn about the situation in Nigeria – obliges us to fight against the root cause. His path of courage and sacrifice connects us with the people in the Niger Delta.    

Rise to the challenge!

From a small cell in a deportation prison in Rottenburg, Donny is issuing a challenge to progressive people to re-examine what opposing racism and oppression in Germany means. The path that he has taken has put him in a situation that for him to rise up from this difficult situation he has to ‘throw in the air’ the web of lies which are being silently accepted about the Niger Delta and the war for oil. He forces us to think whether it is possible to oppose racism in any meaningful way in modern Germany without connecting it to a practical struggle against the exploitation of the part of the world he comes from. Because, is not the poverty and the exploitation of Africa and other parts of the ‘third world’ the economic basis for racist power?

Practical solidarity urgently needed!

You could print out a ‘unterschrift liste’ from the Internet get Four other people to sign it and fax or post it to us.

You could get your organisation, big or small, to pledge their opposition to Donny’s deportation.

Personally, or on behalf of your organisation write a letter of support and email or fax it to us so that we can put it in the Internet. For reference, you can find plenty of information about Nigeria and different documents about Donny’s case in our Internet page.

If you want to put up some posters, we can post it to you if you send us your address.

Inform us if you are interested in participating in or initiating actions against Shell and others.

Send us money, which is urgently needed.

If you have some time and want to help, send us your phone number we will contact you to discuss how you can contribute.