Date Published: 05/20/09

Activists take Niger Delta Crisis to US Senate

* Lobby Senator John Kerry's Committee for Action

* Say 30,000 Displaced

CONCERNED human rights activists across the world are currently pressing the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to quickly intervene in the on-going crisis in the Niger Delta, a key oil and gas region of Nigeria, in a frantic bid to avert what they described as another ''African tragedy''.

Chairman of the Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), a global federation of environmental rights advocacy groups, Nnimmo Bassey, who made this known to our correspondent on-line yesterday said activists are of the view that the Niger Delta is on the brink.

Some of the leeters flooding the office of the Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator John Kerry, have it:

''I am shocked and saddened to learn of the attack on civilians in the Niger Delta by the Nigerian military. It is reported that as many as 500 people were killed and as many as 30,000 are now displaced refugees''.

Bassey said Sweet Crude, a US group which is galvanising the global campaign on the US senate, is urging Senator Kerry and his fellow legislators to speak out immediately in a bid to stop the current bombardment and hold the Nigerian government accountable for its authorization. 

They are asking the Senate committee to call for an immediate cease fire, safe access into the area for humanitarian organizations and journalists – to assure the safety of the refugees, medical treatment for the injured, and an accurate assessment of the conditions and casualties, an investigation into the attacks, and action to pave the way for legitimate, third-party-monitored talks