Pipeline Contract: Community Gives FG, NNPC Ultimatum

The Urhobo Ethnic
Nationality, one of the oil and gas communities in Delta State has issued a one-week ultimatum to the Federal Government, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) to approve the pipeline surveillance contract due to the Urhobo nation else they would no longer guarantee the safety of oil and gas facilities in the area.
This threat was contained in a press statement by the group and the President General/Chairman, Oil Producing/Impacted Communities of Urhobo Nation Friday at Udu, headquarters of Udu Local Government Area of Delta State.
The statement which was signed by Comrade Efe Okovwurie, Moriss Idiovwa, Mrs Mary Otikiri, Hon Kingsley Akpenimor, Chairman Urhobo HOST COM, Coordinator Urhobo Ethnic Nationality, as well as women and youth leaders respectively of HOSTCOM, vowed to resist any attempt to employ any contractor from outside Urhobo nation to handle surveillance and intelligence gathering for oil and gas facilities located in Urhobo communities.
At the expiration of the one week, the statement said, if the Urhobo portion of the surveillance contract is not approved to them, they would withdraw their indigenes working in all the oil and gas facilities across the Urhobo nation and from then onward not guarantee the protection of the facilities.
The statement alleged that the first phase of the surveillance contracts had no impact on the oil bearing communities because those recruited were from the urban areas where the facilities are not located while others were recruited as ghost workers.
“The contractors recruited ghost workers, hence the communities are insisting that the Urhobo portion of the pipeline surveillance that cuts across over eight local government areas in Urhobo land must be given to the company jointly owned by the oil bearing communities so that the indigenes of the communities living with the facilities in their backyard can equally be involved as workers, monitors, supervisors and advisers”, the statement said.
It further revealed that some persons who benefited from the first phase of the contract had hired and mobilised some Urhobo youths to Abuja for a protest on how to secure the contract, the statement stressed that the host communities did not mandate the protest on their behalf and advised the Federal Government and authorities of both NNPC and NPDC not to listen to the protesters and their sponsors.

Chris Oluoh

Deputy Managing Director, Total E &P Nigeria Limited, Mr Nicolas Brunel (left) discussing with Dr Emmaunel Onu Egbogah during the Institute of Petroleum Studies of UNIPORT 10th Induction/Anniversary ceremony, recently. Photo: Obina Prince Dele