Neglect: Rivers Assembly Visits Ahoada Communities

The Rivers State House of
Assembly Joint Committee on Public Complaints and Petitions has visited three communities of Oshiugbokor, Ogbele and Obumeze in Ahoada East Local Government Area to address complaints of neglect and abandonment by an indigenous oil firm as part of its oversight functions.
The committee, headed by Hon. Evans Bipi, was in the communities, to ascertain the veracity of the claims that they were being grossly neglected and underdeveloped by the Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (NDPR).
The company, it was learnt, had been operating in the area since 2005, and had extracted over eight million barrels of crude oil with an average of 6,000 barrels per day.
During the visit, the committee first held a meeting with the NDPR management to understudy and appreciate the company’s operations and challenges.
While at the firm’s premises, the committee members were conducted round the facility by the Head of Public Relations and Security, Alhaji Buba Umaru.
Briefing the committee on the activities of the company, Umaru, told members that his company had a number of development projects of immense benefit on the ground in the communities.
He reeled out PowerPoint presentation of a litany of projects and empowerment programmes that the communities were beneficiaries of, including; payment of bursaries to students, skills acquisition, electricity, provision of water borehole, construction of Community halls, roads, among others.
But three lawmakers: Hon. Major Jack, Hon. Edison Ehie and Hon. Smark Adoki, were not satisfied with just the electronic presentations, and insisted that the committee must visit the communities to see things for themselves.
At Ogbele, the committee members were greeted with all manner of placards bearing inscriptions such as: ‘NDPR, Worse Nightmare To Ogbele Community’, ‘NDPR Is heartless: No Employment, No Community Project’, ‘NPDR Is Fraudulent’, ‘NDPR Is A Disaster To Ogbele’, among others.
Welcoming the committee members to the community, the Vice Chairman, Council of chiefs, Chief Christian Nwoka, explained how they had suffered in the hands of the company, yet patient and non-violent.
“What I want you to know is that our people are suffering. You are advising us to remain calm; we will be calm, we will advise our youth to be clam, but please, help us”, he pleaded.
Also speaking, the Eze Ele Ogbele, Wilfred Ejimaji, said the committee had shown good example by visiting them, and would use the opportunity to see whether the people were exaggerating the underdevelopment of the community or not.
“We understand that you sat last time to discuss the problem between us and NDPR, and now, you have come to see what the company has done to us. Please, help us, what you have heard is true, Ogbele is suffering, we will be happy if you tell the people of the state what you have seen here today”, he lamented.
Earlier, the Chairman of the joint committee, Hon. Evans Bipi, had said they were in the community on a fact-finding mission.
He explained that the finding was still on-going, and advised them to be calm and never engage in violence.
According to him, “Very soon, you will hear from us”.
The committee also visited the other two communities where the members to took a tour of what was left of the development projects there.