PH Mundial – Port Harcourt Online Newspaper News Across The Region
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Members of the Bomu Community, in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, have rained alarm over the “poor handling of the clean-up exercise in their community by the Hydrocarbon Pollution and Remediation Project (HYPREP).
Represented by a community leader, Chief Roland Oku who is a member of the royal family of Bomu, the community decried the poor handling of the clean-up in Bomu and “the fact that HYPREP decides to bypass existing legal leadership structure in the community and relate with whomever they like.”
He said that this does not augur well for peace and development in the community, as he called on the aggrieved youths to maintain the peace “while efforts are being made to reach out to the authorities concerned.”
Oku frowned at the agency’s disregard of extant legislations on Local Content in Nigeria, especially with regards to its activities in Bomu, noting the urgent need for the agency to toe the path of due process in its operations.
Our reporter gathered that youths in Bomu Community of Ogoni recently staged a protest against HYPREP and some of its handlers in Bomu community.
It was learnt that the youths, male and female, came out as early as 9.00 am in the morning on Sunday 25/02/2024 to protest what they termed as high handedness on the part of HYPREP whom they alleged had connived with “some big men in the community against their fortunes.”
The youths demanded for compliance with the Local Content Law as they urged HYPREP and its contractors to show transparency in the employment and subcontracts.
They further alleged that some elites had “received over seventy-five million naira from HYPREP and embezzled it.” The money they claimed belonged to the community and was paid into the private bank account of a certain “chief” in the community.
