Niger Delta
Compensation Over Oil Discovery Triggers Crisis In Delta
Crisis looms at Oviri-Olomu community, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, over the compensation by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), for a fresh oil discovery.
Five families, including Edariese Efedjamah, Irevwiruemu, George Akanuota, Onakota and Ashe, claiming ownership of Evue/Igbighogho bushes in the community where oil was discovered, alleged that faceless persons, who claim to be leaders of the community, connived with the company to shortchange them.
At a press conference in Udu, they stated that only the five families should be paid compensation and allowed to enjoy the benefits accruable from the land.
A member of the Edariese Family, Elder A.P. Edariese said: “The five families have been grossly denied their rights to fair compensation for their properties destroyed on the land and denied all payments for loss of use of the land as well as their rights to be paid anything under the freedom to operate, both at the time of preparation for drilling and now that the company has moved into the land for drilling purposes.
“We are equally denied of our rights to job slots.
“The land is not owned by the Oviri-Olomu Community, Individuals and families own the lands. NPDC should respect the five families for decency, reasonable fairness and justice, and allow peace to reign supreme if they want to do business in the land.
“They imported strange names who have no mandate to lead or represent the community for negotiations against the cries of the five families. They refused to hearken to these long calls and cries.
“NPDC is hereby placed on caution, solemnly advised and warned never to do anything with impostors who do not have the mandate of the community to represent the five families in the acquisition of their land by NPDC for the new oil location that’s being developed.”
Edariese noted he and three others were allegedly held hostage at Wellington Hotel in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area by a consultant and forced to collect N1,500,000 on behalf of his family
He said: “He threatened that if I love myself, I should collect the money. That if the lords in Oviri-Olomu community know he is dealing with me, he will be in trouble. I should accept the money.
“I accepted the money under duress. I had to sign the cheque. He said my family was fortunate because we got the larger sum and others got peanuts.”
Representative of George Akanuota family, Mr. Shedrack Akanuota, who corroborated the claims of Edariese, said: “Only five families own the land wherein NPDC is currently carrying out drilling works at the moment and not nine as it was mentioned and forwarded to them by some faceless persons.”
“They have sidelined us, yet operation is going on in this land. I do not know on whose permission NPDC has gone to carry out their operation.
“So, if they have negotiated with any group of persons before, they should know that they have negotiated with the wrong persons. NPDC need to correct it now.
“NPDC should be cautious of themselves if they are going into communities for transactions to avoid any loss of lives and properties.
“I want NPDC to take note that they have transacted wrong businesses with wrong persons. They need to correct it.”
A representative of the Irhoremu family, Mr. David Irhoremu, who insisted that only five families owned the land wherein NPDC operates, said: “They are dealing with masquerades, who parade themselves to be representative of the community.
“NPDC is working contrary to the constitution of Oviri-Olomu community. They are operating outside the constitution.
“We want to advise NPDC to retrace their steps so that there will be no bloodshed and there will be no court matters.
“We are not against NPDC operating in our land. It is a welcome development that oil is being discovered in our land. But they should follow due process.
“They should come back to the landlords, there should be an MoU so that there will be peace in the land in the community.”
Dufugha, however, expressed resentment over what he described as stringent measures against assessing the State’s Students Loan Scheme, especially for the common citizens.
He made the observations while briefing journalists at the Earliest Ikoli Press Centre, Ekeki, in Yenagoa, the State capital.
“I commend the Governor for the relative peace in the state owing to his approach to the security of lives and properties in the State.
“For now, the police in Bayelsa State is using drones to monitor red flag areas that can cause security breaches and that has really encouraged the peace in the State.
“The security situation has improved and we commend the government for that. We cannot deny the fact that there is relative peace in the State”, he said.
On the State’s students loan, the publisher accused the scheme of having elitist posture due to its accessibility process.
He argued that it would be difficult for the ordinary Bayelsan to provide a Level-17 civil servant as guarantor to be able to benefit from the scheme, describing it as a systemic denial of the less privileged.
He noted that the loan was supposed to be a succour to indigent Bayelsa parents and students who could not assess education easily, noting that such persons should not be made to face cumbersome situations before assessing the financial instrument.
On road infrastructure, the Niger Delta Herald Publisher and Editor-in-chief praised the Diri’s administration on the work done on the three senatorial district roads and tasked the government to do more.
Dufugha, who described Bayelsa State as a wealthy State, asserted that the oil rich state needed to see more developmental strides comparative to its current financial status.
“Bayelsa is not a poor state in terms of public revenue. We’re an oil producing state. We receive federal allocations. We receive derivation revenue. We have access to enormous public resources.
“We receive interventions. Yet, after all these years, the ordinary citizen is still asking, what exactly are we getting for our money? Where are the industries? Where are the jobs? Where are the functional health institutions? Where is the agricultural transformation? Where is the human capital development? Where is the economic diversification?,” he argued.
He enjoined the government to redouble effort in the education and health subsectors, adding that it would pay the state a lot if there were centres for the treatment of critical health cases such as cancer and others in order to save lives and avoid capital flight.
The Publisher urged the Senator Diri-led government and the public not to misunderstand his message as hatred or personal issues with the Governor, but see it as a constitutional and professional duty to hold government accountable.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Peter Akpe, stated this rexently when he received the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in ernment House, Yenagoa.
charge of Bayelsa and Rivers States, during a courtesy visit to Government House, Yenagoa.
Akpe said the general perception of those in politics has always been that of corruption, but noted that the position of the Douye Diri-led Prosperity Administration is non-tolerance for corruption.
Akpe, who frowned at the habit of writing unfounded petitions against individuals and groups, said the heap of petition files from Bayelsa State at the ICPC was several times higher than that from any other state in the country.
He reminded residents that writing unjustifiable petitions to anti-graft agencies is not only a bad culture, but also attracts jail penalty, and assured the ICPC of the state government’s support to improve public enlightenment.
“Our government is a government that believes in zero tolerance for corruption; that is why we are always open to interact with you and other anti-graft agencies.
“Usually, there is this issue of negative perception of politics and politicians. But it is not true that every politician is corrupt. We have a good number of people in politics that are not corrupt, and we believe that a good percentage of them are in this government.
“The issue of petitions at the ICPC: What we observed was that the heap of files from Bayelsa were 10 times higher than the ones from even Lagos, and 15 more times than the ones from Sokoto and other states.
“That is quite disturbing. More so, most of those petitions were ion, our people should also know that such frivolous petitions can land them in jail”, he saidfrivolous.
From a personal experience, I can tell you that most of the petitions are extremely frivolous. While we will never tolerate corruption, our people should also know that such frivolous petitions can land them in jail”, he said.
Earlier in her remarks, the ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner in charge of Rivers and Bayelsa States, Dr. Ekere Usiere, highlighted the statutory mandate of the ICPC, stressing that its mission was to carry out sensitisation on the ills of corruption in the Nigerian society.
Usiere, who expressed concern at the volume of petitions currently before the ICPC emanating from communities in Bayelsa over the management of the PIA funds, expressed the commission’s desire to partner the Bayelsa State Ministry of Information to carry out sensitisation programmes.
The ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner was accompanied on the visit by Assistant Chief Superintendent, Mr. Evans Peters; Principal Superintendent, Mr. Emmanuel Akpor; Assistant Superintendent, Mrs. Tamaraudoubra Ebebi; and the Administrative Officer, Mr. Frank Yileaziba.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
The Director of Administration and Human Resources, Sir Kelechi Nwelue, gave the advice during a commission-wide staff interactive session with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and insurance companies at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
In a statement signed and issued by Seledi Thompson-Wakama
Director, Corporate Affairs, Nwelue said the programme, approved by the Managing Director of the commission, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, was organised to sensitise staff on pension schemes and provide them with the knowledge required to make informed decisions about their retirement savings.
He particularly urged newly recruited employees to acquaint themselves with the operations and responsibilities of various PFAs before choosing an administrator to manage their pension contributions.
According to him, pension contributions deducted from employees’ salaries, alongside employers’ contributions, constitute long-term savings designed to provide financial support after retirement.
He urged staff to carefully assess the information provided by the participating pension administrators and choose the option best suited to their long-term financial interests.
Nwelue stressed that employees were at liberty to select their preferred pension administrator, noting that the interactive session provided an opportunity for the various companies to explain their products, services and benefits.
Also speaking, a Director in the Directorate of Administration and Human Resources, Mr. James Fole, said the programme was aimed at deepening employees’ understanding of pension, insurance and other financial instruments that could improve their financial wellbeing during and after active service.
Fole warned that inadequate preparation for retirement could expose employees to financial hardship in their post-service years.
He said: “That is not what the Managing Director, Executive Management and the entire management want for our staff. We want to see a situation where retirees enjoy a reasonable level of comfort, knowing that the Commission has contributed to their future.”
He added that equipping employees with appropriate financial knowledge while they were still in active service remained critical to achieving a financially secure retirement.
Several pension and insurance companies participated in the interactive session.
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