Agip Landlord Embarks On Hunger Strike

One of the landlords of Obiafu/Obrikom gas plant belonging to Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Elder Sylvester Nwata, has embarked on hunger strike as a means of expressing his frustration and anger against the Italian oil giant over the non-payment of compensation for his land.

Elder Nwata, who is also threatening to commit suicide with his entire household should Agip fail to pay him for his land acquired for the gas facility, told journalists that Agip had shunned every overtures made to effect compliance on the matter.

The landlord said that since 1978 when Agip took over his land, he has not received any form of compensation from the company, adding that he has been completely dispossessed of the valuable resource, which could have been used for other economic purposes.

According to Nwata, “for the past three decades that my land was taken over by Agip, I have no land to farm, and my family and I are dying in abject poverty. I cannot send my children to school because there is no money to pay their school fees”.

Nwata also alleged that two ancestral shrines, “Ogo” and “Ozo”,  situated at the Obiafu/Obrikom gas plant, had been destroyed, indicating that this had brought negative consequences on the people as the deities could no longer be appeased.

The despised Agip landlord lamented a situation where the company will continue to treat him with disdain after acquiring his only source of livelihood, and threatened to fight on until Agip redeems its obligation to him and his family.

When contacted on phone for comments, Agip’s Public Relations Officer, Harding Orife, declined comments on the matter.   

Beemene Taneh

One of the landlords of Obiafu/Obrikom gas plant belonging to Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Elder Sylvester Nwata, has embarked on hunger strike as a means of expressing his frustration and anger against the Italian oil giant over the non-payment of compensation for his land.

Elder Nwata, who is also threatening to commit suicide with his entire household should Agip fail to pay him for his land acquired for the gas facility, told journalists that Agip had shunned every overtures made to effect compliance on the matter.

The landlord said that since 1978 when Agip took over his land, he has not received any form of compensation from the company, adding that he has been completely dispossessed of the valuable resource, which could have been used for other economic purposes.

According to Nwata, “for the past three decades that my land was taken over by Agip, I have no land to farm, and my family and I are dying in abject poverty. I cannot send my children to school because there is no money to pay their school fees”.

Nwata also alleged that two ancestral shrines, “Ogo” and “Ozo”,  situated at the Obiafu/Obrikom gas plant, had been destroyed, indicating that this had brought negative consequences on the people as the deities could no longer be appeased.

The despised Agip landlord lamented a situation where the company will continue to treat him with disdain after acquiring his only source of livelihood, and threatened to fight on until Agip redeems its obligation to him and his family.

When contacted on phone for comments, Agip’s Public Relations Officer, Harding Orife, declined comments on the matter.