A TWIN daughter of hanged Ogoni writer and environmentalist, Ken Saro Wiwa, has called for a boycott of Shell. In Dublin last night she read one of her father's poems at a concert in Temple Bar.
The event marked the first anniversary of his death and of the other eight hanged with him. Noo Saro Wiwa (20) said that when multinationals like Shell were running the world people had to use their consumer power to counteract the damage they did.
She had been brought up in England and spent summer holidays in Nigeria, where her father showed her the dried up lakes in his village the result of oil drilling.
She was accompanied by an Ogoni lawyer, Mr Ledum Mitee, acting president of MOSOP, the Ogoni freedom movement. Mr Mitee claims to have hard evidence that Shell has been actively supporting the military government.
"The situation has worsened", he said, calling for the release 19 Ogonis "in detention, in appalling conditions, since 1994".
The concert was organised by Trocaire and Body Shop Ireland and performers included Sinead O'Connor, Roddy Doyle and Ronnie Drew.
The event linked up with supporters in England via the Internet and with Ogoni solidarity groups in Canada via satellite. From Toronto, Ms Diane Wiwa, a sister in law of Ken, urged people in Ireland to maintain their interest. Peter McDonald, of The Body Shop, invited everyone to send free Christmas cards, available in their shops, which list the names of the children of the 19 people in detention.
Later, a small group held an all night vigil outside the Nigerian embassy in Dublin's Leeson Park. Today, an "Ogoni awareness exercise" will be held at Shell garages in Dublin (Harcourt Street, 12.30 p.m.), Galway, Cork, Donegal and Belfast.
Members of Democratic Left laid a wreath yesterday at the Nigerian embassy in memory of the executed writer. Mr Pat Rabbitte said he was convinced that only economic sanctions, including an oil embargo, would improve human rights in Nigeria.