Nigerian environmental activist Nnimmo Bassey of Friends of the Earth International has been awarded the prestigious Right Livelihood Award -

“…for revealing the full ecological and human horrors of oil production and for his inspired work to strengthen the environmental movement in Nigeria and globally.”

Nnimmo Bassey’s work as Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria and Chair of Friends of the Earth International has turned him into one of Africa’s leading advocates and campaigners for the environment and human rights. Indefatigably, Bassey has stood up against the practices of multinational corporations in his country and the environmental devastation they leave behind destroying the lives and ignoring the rights of the local population.

See the more on Nnimmo Bassey and the award, from the Right Livelihood Award website.

Read JINN’s special report and watch video smuggled out of Nigeria.

JINN report entitled Operation Restore Hope Killed the Hope and Livelihood of Tens of Thousands updates the story in the aftermath of the 2009 bombings by the Nigerian military which displaced an estimated 20,000 mostly poor villagers living in 163 communities, villages and hamlets. Project Censored recognized JINN’s work in getting this story out.

Watch this shocking cell phone video – The village of Okerenkoko was destroyed in 2009 by what appears to be a military bombing. The footage was shot by Timmy Guwor.

Read the Next article with quotes from President Goodluck Jonathan about the perpetrators of the bomb blasts that hit the nation’s capital yesterday, killing at least 12 people.

NAN, October 3, 2010 02:50PM

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that terrorists were responsible for the bomb blasts that rocked Abuja yesterday contrary to claims that the act was perpetrated by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

Mr. Jonathan made the claim in his opening address at the colloquium, organised today in Abuja by the ECOWAS Parliament, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of some African countries.

“What happened yesterday was a terrorist act and MEND was just used as a straw; MEND is not a terrorist group,” the President said.

Full article here

Read the article from the BBC about the bombings in Abuja marring the celebration of 50 years of independence in Nigeria:

1 October 2010 BBC News Africa

” Nigeria independence celebrations marred by blasts”

The BBC’s Komla Dumor says people in Abuja have been shaken by the attacks

At least eight people have been killed in explosions in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, marring celebrations to mark 50 years since independence from the UK.

Police have confirmed that two blasts outside the justice ministry were caused by car bombs.

Earlier, the militant group Mend (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) had threatened to target the festivities.

Nigeria is a major oil producer, yet most of the population live in poverty.
The bombs went off not far from Eagle Square, where the Nigerian elite had gathered for the official celebrations, but no-one there was hurt.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who was inspecting a guard of honour at the time, called it a “wicked act of desperation by criminals and murderers”.

Mend, a militant group in the oil-rich south, issued a threat on Friday morning saying it intended to bomb the event.

In the message, the group which is demanding a fairer distribution of the country’s oil revenues, said there was “nothing worth celebrating after 50 years of failure”.

The militant group Mend had earlier warned that it had planted several explosive devices. In the e-mail, the group addressed Nigeria’s dignitaries saying the country had nothing to celebrate on its anniversary.

Mend is a loose coalition of violent groups from the oil-rich Niger Delta. Most of the group’s leaders are observing a ceasefire.

Some senior Mend figures are already dissociating themselves from these blasts, but a small faction within the group is dissatisfied with the government’s handling of an amnesty process in the Niger Delta.

It is this faction that is presumed to be behind the explosions.

If Mend militants are responsible for the blasts, it would be the first time that the group has targeted the capital.

Full article here