Ogulagha: Plans to shutdown Forcados under way

Indications emerged, yesterday, that the angry people of Ogulagha Kingdom in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, have concluded plans to shutdown oil and gas facilities, Forcados Export Terminal operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, in the kingdom, which will cut the country’s crude oil production by one million barrels daily.

The leadership of Ogulagha Kingdom, last week, in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, had urged him to quickly address the marginalisation of Ogulagha Kingdom by the Federal Government or risk the shutdown of all oil facilities, including Forcados Export Terminal in Ogulagha Kingdom.

Chief William Igere, Bolouwei of Ogulagha Kingdom, who spoke to newsmen in Warri, insisted that the threat by Ogulagha Kingdom to shutdown oil facilities and Forcados export terminal was unstoppable and will cut down daily oil production by one million barrels.

He said the Ogulagha Kingdom, being a major oil producer in Nigeria will no longer tolerate and accept the deliberate and continued marginalisation, neglect and underdevelopment of the area by the Federal Government.

Igere said: “The Federal Government should be ready to lose one million barrels daily in Ogulagha Kingdom because we have collectively resolved as a people to take our destinies into our hands. In our open letter to President Buhari last week, we did not give specific ultimatum for the shutdown oil facilities in Ogulagha Kingdom. Our plan was to shutdown unannounced and unexpectedly to make it a surprise gift to Nigeria and Federal Government since the Federal Government has refused to address our pains over the years.”

Forcados Export Terminal and Oil Pipeline System is the second largest network in Niger Delta, and transports oil, water and associated gas from fields in the Western Delta to the Forcados oil terminal, located in oil-rich Ogulagha Kingdom, in Burutu, Delta State.

In the open letter, they asked President Buhari to appoint indigenes of Ogulagha Kingdom into federal boards and parastatals such as NDDC, NIMASA, NNPC, Presidential Amnesty Programme, federal universities to give them a sense of belonging in the scheme of things, among other demands.

They also requested for immediate execution of number of projects which include Shore Protection at Ogulagha, Obuguru, Osain and Abarabe, sitting of a Federal University, Polytechnic, Federal Medical Centre/ Hospital in Ogulagha Kingdom; construction of roads and drainages, dredging and reclamation of Stuart Creeks and very importantly, a bridge to connect Ogulagha Kingdom to the Warri Urban settlement among others.

Also, the leaders demanded that Ogulagha indigenes and investors must be given the right of first fefusal in the bidding process in the 2020 proposed sale of marginal fields by Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, as Ogulagha Kingdom will not concede any marginal field to non indigenes.