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Aggrieved Isoko speaking Osekwenike, Abuetor and Osifo communities in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Friday threatened to shutdown the Samabiri/Buseni Cluster Location housing nine oil wells, operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), over alleged refusal by the oil giant to keep to the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) reached with its host communities.
Our correspondent reports that the protesting communities in their large number barricaded the access road leading to the Agip-owned oil facility, and disrupted its activities, to press home their demands.
The protesters comprising men, women and youths from the three communities were seen carrying placards with different inscriptions such as ‘Agip give us our link road,’ ‘Agip obey the directive of the deputy governor on the surveillance matter,’ ‘We are tired of staying in darkness in our communities,’ ‘Agip employ our youths.’
Other inscriptions read: ‘Agip, increase our GMoU projects from 2 to 4 in each community,’ ‘Agip award our link road project to the recommended contractors,’ ‘Give us diesel to power our generators,’ among others.
A statement jointly signed by the presidents-general of the three communities, Mr. Lovely Agwor for Abuetor, Mr. Anthony Okorie for Osekwenike and Mr. Benjamin Aghoghovia for Osifo, stated that they resorted to embarking on a peaceful protest after efforts to reach Agip for dialogue failed.
The community leaders told our correspondent that they had written several letters, seeking audience with the oil giant through the manager, Stakeholders Management and Community Development division to address their demands but Agip had continued to rebuff the communities’ efforts to have a round table discourse on the way forward.
They recalled that the communities had in separate letters, dated June 23, 2021 and October 14, 2021 and addressed to the general manager, District, Nigeria Agip Oil Company through the manager, Stakeholders Management and Community Development division, threatened to shut down the oil facility if Agip refused to listen to them.
Some of the demands made by the communities to Agip include: “To assign the construction of our link road which shall connect the three communities in line with our MoU for 2001/2006 to the recommended contractor. No implementation, no production.
“To mobilize the contractor to site for the completion of our gas turbine project in line with our MOU 2001/2006.
“To assign the surveillance contract to a trusted indigenous contractor in Bayelsa State or to our recommended contractor and payment of two months salary arrears to our community. No implementation, no production.
“To respect our GMOU which comprises nine communities, namely: Osekwenike, Abuetor, Osifo, Agbere, Odoni, Kaiama, Isoni Ossiama and Ogbunugbene.”
The aggrieved communities are also demanding for a monthly supply of 45,000 litres of diesel to them which Agip had allegedly stopped over six months ago “for no just course,” thereby subjecting them to acute darkness “while the multinational company and its staff are enjoying uninterrupted electricity at the cluster location which houses nine oil wells that produce thousands of barrels of crude oil daily.”
They used the medium to call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, and the relevant authorities to prevail on Agip to do the needful, vowing not to vacate the oil site if their demands are not met.
