PIA:Ekeremor Communities Picket SPDC Facility.

 

Some  Communities  in  Ekeremor  Local Government Area of Bayelsa on Tuesday took their  protest to the  Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Estuary Area (EA) facility demanding their autonomy to enable them fastrack the development of their Communities.

This was as  the communities maintained that plots by SPDC to foist five other communities on the Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) was unacceptable.

The seven  communities comprising of  Bisangbene, Amatu 1, Amatu 2, Letugbene, Orobiri, Ogbintu, Azamabiri threatened that they would not hesitate to shut down the company’s operations if their demand was further ignored.

Recall that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 mandates oil firms to set aside three per cent of their operational expenses for community development to be managed by HCDT.

 

They however vowed to occupy the facility until the oil firm reverts the composition of the EA Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) to seven in reflection of the cultural affinity of the people 

 Speaking on behalf of other agrrieved  community members, Timothy Geregere, Chairman of Bisangbene community,  regretted that they were compelled to resort to a peaceful protest haven made efforts  to resolve the dispute on the negotiating table but to no avail.

The community leader said that it was regrettable that in spite of making the position of the seven settlements clear in several letters to the company, SPDC ignored them.

He explained that the separation was necessary because there are about twelve communities in the EA and the twelve communities cannot work together.

According to the community leader, initially four different clans operated the GMoU before the advent of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021.

He said that when the PIA came, SPDC indicated intention to merge the different clusters but the seven communities rejected the proposal and insisted on having a separate trust.

He listed the 12 communities as Amatu 1, Amatu 2, Bisangbene, Letugbene, Bilabiri 1, Bilabiri 2, Ikeni, Izetu, Orobiri, Azamagbene, Agge and Ogbintu.

However, Bisangbene, Amatu 1, Amatu 11, Letugbene, Orobiri, Ogbintu and Azamabiri, are the seven communities that have agreed to work together.

Geregere said: “We are compelled to go this far by mobilising the community to draw the attention of all stakeholders to our simple demand. We want to be treated separately in the EA oil field and we have written several letters to SPDC.

“We have come here to draw attention to the delay tactics of foisting ‘strange bedfellows’ together, which is a grand plan to retard development. We will not allow divide and rule in our communities so we are telling the world that we should be allowed to operate a separate trust. We will remain here until our demand is met and we  earnestly hope they will not push us to shut down the facility.

The protesters who took the protest to the EA oilfields off the Atlantic coastline in several speedboats chanting solidarity songs in Ijaw dialect  said that they had already  spent their eighth day at the facility as at Teusday.

They however assured that appeals to vacate the facility and promises to resume talks on the dispute have been received but  insisted to  remain peaceful, keep vigil and help the military in securing the facility.

When contacted for reaction,  Michael Adande, Spokesperson for SPDC said: “The EA Host Communities Development Trust is a subject of intra-communal litigation.The outcome of which is being awaited before any further steps by the SPDC.” He said.