The Ogoni people in southern Nigeria live above significant crude oil reserves. But the oil has come at a human cost,
including the killing of the "Ogoni Nine", nine Nigerian environmental activists executed in 1995.
Drilling in Ogoniland ceased in 1993, but environmental devastation continued. Two major spills in 2008 saw an estimated 600,000 barrels of crude destroy mangroves and aquatic life and ruin livelihoods.
Shell, the multinational blamed for the spill, faces a lawsuit, in which a ruling is expected soon. But several Ogoni traditional leaders want oil drilling to resume — this time, by residents. King Solomon Ndigbara of Bori, a former agitator against extraction, now supports renewed oil operations.
King Emere Okpabi of Ogale is leading a lawsuit against Shell in the United Kingdom, but favors regional control of oil.