Community Protests Exclusion From Shell’s Divestment Process

The Belema Community
in the Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State has protested the exclusion of Belema Oil and Gas Limited by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) in the OML 25 block divestment bidding exercise.
The community which protested in Port Harcourt with several placards also denounced the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) allegedly signed by the Opu Kula Community, stressing that Belema Community which is the landlord to SPDC was not part of the agreement.
A press release signed by the Paramount Ruler of Belema Community, HRM King Boardillon Oko and HRH King G. A. Egbelekro Opueze said that Belema Oil and Gas Limited has the technical competence to operate the field.
“Our indigenous son’s company has the human resources, personnel, financial and technical consortium of partners to purchase and operate the facility in the aforesaid block,” the statement said.
“We use this medium to immediately ask SPDC to comply with the terms and conditions of any law relating to the Nigerian Local Content,” it maintained.
The people also said that Belema Community is not part of Opu Kula and therefore deserves to be recognised by SPDC even as the said flow station is owned by Belema and not opu Kula.
Also speaking, Hon. Prince Mpakaboari Welsh said that the community wants its sons and daughters to be part of the bidding process.
He said that it was the community that shut down the Ekulama Flow Station on the 9th of February, 2014 and not Opu Kula as is being alleged.
All efforts made to reach SPDC for its comment proved abortive.