The claim over who owns Soku Oil well between Rivers and neighboring Bayelsa State may take a turn for the worse as both states continue to demonstrate their readiness to go the extra mile in getting hold of the oil well.
According to informed sources who spoke to 247ureports.com, some elders from Kalabari land in Rivers, and their counterparts in communities in neighbouring Bayelsa have been meeting to resolve the matter, but the division over the oil well was resurrected following the remarks made by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi a few days before the New Year.
He alleged that President Goodluck Jonathan was behind Bayelsa’s bid to claim the Soku Oil well, which he noted is in Rivers State.
Amaechi’s remarks forced Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Chief Press Secretary to the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, to say that the controversy on Soku had been resolved by the Supreme Court, the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and several presidential committees. He accused Amaechi of leading a smear campaign against President Jonathan, and was threatening the peace and security of the nation.
Iworiso-Markson, who stated this in a statement noted that expressed Amaechi, was using the matter to grab media attention and score cheap political points, noting that Amaechi was aware that Soku was merely a name adopted by Shell, being its nearest operations base at the time, and not necessarily the location of the oil wells.
He added that: “the crux of the matter is whether the said oil wells which bear the name given by Shell are within Bayelsa or Rivers states according to the administrative map of Nigeria and other instruments for purposes of derivation?
“It is instructive to note that not only are the survey coordinates of the affected areas within the geographical area of Bayelsa State, it is also in INEC Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) delineated electoral constituency as electoral ward 13 in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
“It should be noted that while the Kalabaris of Rivers State call the area Soku, the Nembe people of Bayelsa State call it Oluasiri which is one of the councils mentioned in paragraph 5 of the above mentioned instrument.
“In the light of the above, it is recommended that the production from Soku Oil Field be attributed to Bayelsa State.
But reacting to the points he raised, the David Iyofor, the CPS to Amaechi, said: “After a very long slumber, the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, through his Chief Press Secretary has issued a statement, claiming that the Soku oil wells, which historically have always been in Rivers State are in Bayelsa State. This statement is coming many months after the Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has been consistently reiterating that the Soku oil wells which belong to Rivers State have been appropriated to Bayelsa State by the President Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government.
“It is also interesting to note that the statement from the Bayelsa Governor is coming after he has held several clandestine meetings with a few Kalabari indigenes and Chiefs in his bid to get them to publicly renounce the Kalabari ownership of the Soku oil wells. At these meetings, all sorts of dummies were thrown up, including the ‘story’ that President Jonathan is Ijaw; Kalabari people are Ijaw; so Kalabari people should support their fellow Ijaw brother, who is the President, to take away Kalabari oil wells and should not join Governor Amaechi, who is not Ijaw, in the fight to return Soku oil wells to Kalabari people of Rivers State.
“The facts on the Rivers State ownership of the Soku oil wells are immutable, no matter how the Bayelsa State Governor tries to stretch, twist or spin them. Even in his statement, he conveniently left out the fact that from colonial times up till the 10th edition of the Administrative map of Nigeria, the boundaries between the Kalabari communities in Rivers State and the neighbouring Nembe communities of Bayelsa State have been clearly delineated, with the boundary clearly marked as the Santa Barbara River.
“The 11th edition of the Administrative map, prepared by the National boundary Commission and the Federal Surveyor General’s Office in 1999, but published in 2000, strangely shifted the boundaries between Rivers and Bayelsa States from the initial boundary between Kalabari and Nembe, west of the Santa Barbara River, to San Bartholomew River, contrary to the delineation by all preceding administrative maps of Nigeria and all historical records.”
