Member of a Nigerian people living in the Niger delta. The Ogoni number some 500,000 and there are four Ogoni languages. The Ogoni are in conflict with the multinational Shell, which began extracting oil in their area 1958.
The Ogoni resistance organization was founded 1990. The Ogoni claim that their land has been heavily polluted by Shell's activities and oil spills, and that by 1995 more than 1,800 people had been killed by Nigerian troops who regard them as secessionists.
Before the pollution, the Ogoni lived by fishing and farming. Unemployment among the Ogoni is 85% and literacy 20% (1994); few households have electricity or running water.