From Uchenna Ezeadigwe,
Awka
Tension and palpable fear have gripped members of the riverine community of Ogwu-Ikpele community in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State following fresh crisis generated shut down of 12 oil wells due to purported failure of an oil company to operate within the bracket of due diligence and Corporate Social Responsibility( CSR).
The oil company, Sterling Petroleum Energy Exploration Company (SNEEPCO) is Shell’s Nigerian deep-water oil and gas subsidiary, a pioneer in the country’s offshore energy and a key partner with NNPC, has in its 10 years of existence been in the news for the wrong reasons.
The oddities which compound these agony compounds the yearly
seasonal flooding challenges the community faces include alleged militarisation of the area, existence of hostile atmosphere, chasing state government officials out of the oil exploration site, failure to employ indigenes and account for the quantity of oil outflows and incomes generated periodically.
Also, the ship that explores the oil has believably caused erosion near the river banks, leaving no fewer than over 30 houses submerged and fallen into the River Niger.
The indigenes, it was learnt bid their time and opted to protest the ills, neglect, lack of basic amenities and dehumanisation of the Indigenes by SPEECO Petroleum on its 10th anniversary held weekend when no fewer than hundreds of the elderly, youths, women and children protested what they described as ten years of neglect, agony, denial, rejection and degradations by SPEECO.
The protesting Ogwu Ikpele Indigenes carried placards some of which reads: “No road, no hospital, no jobs,” “Ogwu Ikpele suffers 10 years of SPEECO exploitation and neglect,” “Say no to SPEECO breach of agreements,” among others.
The protesters, according to a source, were instructed to dare the consequences and block the oil company from further mining until the needful is done.
The protest which lasted between last Friday and Saturday saw the indigenes barricade access roads, shut down 12 oil wells and electricity supply facilities. The 12 wells, it was gathered, are in Umuokike, Umuanyasi, umumgbeleke, Umuogbulishi and Umuogbu.
A source from the company that pleaded anonymity puts the loss by the oil company in the two-day protest at about N200 million.
When this reporter monitored the community’s protest as the company celebrated its ten years of existence, it was gathered that there were no visible basic amenities like tarred roads, well-equipped, functional hospital, regular power supply, pipe-borne water supply except few bore holes done recently by the state government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) party in the state.
In his reaction to the protest, the Traditional Prime Minister of Ogwu-Ikpele Kingdom, Chief Akaka Damian Aniagboso (Odua Ukwu of Ogwu-Ikpele) lamented bitterly over the endless hardship and sufferings meted to his subjects.
Aniagboso observed that the riverine community is blessed with abundance of agricultural and mineral resources including oil, but there’s nothing to show for the nature’s abundance.
The Odua Ukwu said: “Our oil is being explored and transferred to Niger Delta. This is ten good years SNEEPCO has been operating in our land, all the Memoranda of Understanding we signed with them, none has been done or reached.”
He revealed that fully-loaded four tanker ship of oil are being transferred each day to neighbouring states and huge revenue made from them, but the children of the community are left uneducated, unempowered, unemployed.
“They promised to give us scholarships from elementary, secondary, university, and up to Master’s Degree. It’s all a deceit. No hospital, no pipe-borne water, no electricity. We have made frantic efforts to Enugu Government and Anambra Government but they have neglected us. We are being seen as an oil community with natural wealth, but no basic amenities,” he said.
“Our women are rejected, no town hall, the ship that explores the oil has caused erosion near the river banks, leaving no fewer than over thirty houses submerged and fallen into the River Nigeria.” he added.
Earlier in his remark, the President General (PG) of Ogwu-Ikpele community, Esumai Patrick Chukwudi said the reason for the gathering and protest was to celebrate ten years of rejection, humiliation and insult from SNPEECO exploration company that has been mining oil in the area in the last ten years with nothing beneficial to the host community.
His words: “No employment, no road, no water, no hospital, nothing that is coming from them and we have been begging them since they started operations. The PIA is nothing to talk about. There is no metering that will ensure the quantity of oil being transferred, which affects the PIA.
“Anambra state government cannot determine the amount of oil going out from the community because they laid pipes beneath the River Niger from where they move these oils across Delta State.
“We have gas, we have crude, but the government of Anambra State cannot give account of it, because they don’t know the quantity and cannot agitate that the money received from federal government is commensurate with the oil being taken out.”
Continuing, he said: “The company has refused to show up with their social responsibilities, and the gas flare has affected our agricultural produce, especially palm trees; there is a serious pollution, such that we can’t even fish in this community and the spillage has been affecting the farm produce for the past ten years, and these are what prompted the blockade. We want the world to hear us and come to our help.”
The PG further said: “No single person from Anambra State is employed. We have a consensus 46 agreements on employment for our youths and there’s still nothing to show up. We beg the state government to intervene so that the people can have a fresh of breath air.
“Yesterday we shut down all the wells, even the pipes they laid across Delta State, we shut it down and that is why they came today for us to dialogue and we have told them our grievances and they said they are going to fix another meeting.
“They are doing bunkering, oil will flow under the ground through the sea across and along the patch, let them tell us what the patches are all about, we have pictorial evidences and video clips that they have patches, yet oil is moving to other states. They want to lay another pipeline that will cross from Akwa Ibom State to Anambra State called Kwale pipeline. They came and we saw them.”
Contributing, a former House of Representatives Member for Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Hon. Chuchu Onyema observed that SPNEECO has been in Ogwu-Ikpele for over ten years, with nothing to show.
Hon. Onyema said: “What the people are doing today is celebrating neglect, degradation, and all kinds of bad attitudes coming from the company. We have tried to negotiate with them, but for some reasons best known to them, they chicken out.
“But this blockade today was for us to stop them from work and reach a roundtable talk for the final time. I believe in conflict resolution, but not violent. There is Social Corporate Responsibility. We are supposed to be receiving 3 per cent of what is metered, but nothing to show of it.
“The only street light you see in Ogwu-Ikpele is the one I attracted when I was in the House of Representatives. Other development projects are from the state government, yet there is an oil company exploring oil in the community. We are not begging for anything, but those things which are due to us should be given to us.”
“They are flaring gas which you can convert to electricity, the telecommunications mast there is only for their use. If we want to make a call, we go to the river banks to use services from Delta State. That is why we are here to discuss the way forward. Their ships erodes the soils near the river bank, this is twenty-four hours we shut their rigs down, they are losing millions. No member of this community or Anambra is employed. Let them prove me wrong. We don’t even know what is metered. The state government is losing,” he lamented.
On his own part, the Youth Leader of Ogwu Ikpele, Aghauli Chimuanya Peter said: “We demand that SNEPCO build roads for us, pipe borne water, electricity, solar powered lights, and employment. As the youth leader, I do not even have access to go in there, not to talk about work.”
Another community leader, Dominic Anumale and a teacher, Aghauli Chukwudi, while noting that the government abandoned them for years, urged Governor Soludo to intervene.
In her contribution, the Woman President-General, Mrs. Onwuaghamadu Victoria, said “This year marks ten years SNEEPCO came into the community, yet we lack good water; no electricity, no good roads, no hospital and other things.
“I would say that their stay is useless to us because there’s nothing to gain, our children are not working not to talk of the women folks. All we ask for is to make life liveable for us with these basic amenities in place. Our pregnant women have to travel to another town to give birth, nothing is moving and we are not happy.
As at press time, tension surrounding the environment and efforts to speak with any of the representatives of the company proved abortive as they declined to speak except the company’s Public Relations Officer, who, at the time of the protest, was not reachable.
More photos from the protest:
