The crisis bugging the largest oil block in the Niger Delta, OML 30, seemed to escalate further yesterday as 24 host communities threatened to shut operations down at the flow stations within cluster 10 any moment soon.
This was part of resolutions reached at the end of a meeting of the Forum of Pipelines and Well-Head Communities’ executives held in Agbarho, Ughelli North council area of Delta state yesterday.
Addressing newsmen, Chairman of OML 30 Cluster 10, Mr. Joseph Ibuje, stated that the shutdown became necessary due to the uncivil conduct of the operator, Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited (HEOSL), recently.
Restating their openness to dialogue, he called for an interface with the managing director of HEOSL, Mr. Naeem Atik-Sadiq with president generals of host communities, the Community Development Board as well as government agents.
“We have resolved that the option of dialogue is not lost. We will put up a committee to meet with our monarchs to educate them on what is going on.
“We will put our communities on red alert. We will not allow them to overrun our communities to do their oil operations without our knowledge and consent. They cannot come into our communities to do anything. We will resist it as it is now. We will shut down the flow stations. Like the flow station of Eruemukohwarien community that is in this cluster, we are going to shut it down any moment from now. And all the facilities, every well-head, we will shut down,” the chairman vowed.
Accusing the company of trying to evade its responsibilities, Ibuje said, “we have been asking for what is due us from Heritage Energy, the operator of the facilities in OML 30. Now all efforts to get them on ground has proven abortive. The most annoying of all is that just last week they changed operation. They are at liberty to change whatever they want because they have been introduced to us by the state governor. But the manner with which they carried it out, by bringing in the military and government apparatus to overrun the asset overnight is not civilized.
“They look at us as docile and that we do not know what we are going. We have not been fighting, we have been asking for these our benefits through dialogue. They have been operating, boasting of increased production, far more than NPDC could do. But if we need these things and you are shying away from them, can you shy away from your responsibilities?
“The issue is so complex and there are a lot of rumours. Some persons are coming to introduce themselves, some NGOs are coming, one AA Peaceworks, one DBN, so we do not know who is who. Let Heritage come out, that is why we wanted to see Mr. Naeem himself, to tell us who is operating the asset for him.”
Some of the issues as listed in the meeting include review of the GMOU, outstanding 2016 GMOU fund, scholarship from 2015 till date, non-employment of workers from the block and blatant refusal of staff audit, community content/contract, nonpayment of salaries and reentry process of new operators.
Efforts to get Heritage Energy to respond to the piling tension within its areas of operations in recent times have been unsuccessful as officials have not been accessible.
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