Royal Dutch Shell Group .com Rotating Header Image

Vanguard (Nigeria): Oil communities rise against Shell

By Emma Amaize
Posted to the Web: Monday, July 30, 2007

WARRI—OIL producing communities in Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom, Warri South-West local government area of Delta State, weekend, barred the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) from resuming oil exploration and exploitation activities in their area until the rift between the kingdom and the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) over the commission’s Ijaw national budget project allocation is resolved.

It was not clear, yesterday, why the problem with DESOPDEC should be visited on the SPDC but the community has a lingering dispute with the oil company.

Representatives of the communities, Andrew Anegba (Ogbe-Ijoh), Clarkson Aribogha (Odidi I and II), Samson Oyimi (Ajuju), Chief Balogun (Eweregbene), Clement Takedor  (Egwa II, Takedor/Kusimi) and  Abenego Sene (Ijansa/Ijelejele/Ekeremor federated communities) in a communique issued at the end of an emergency meeting in Ogbe-Ijoh, said there would be “no re-entry into Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom oil producing  communities fields, namely Odidi I, Odidi II, Egw II and Ajuja/Batan to resume oil exploration and exploitation activities until the exclusion of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom oil producing communities in the DESOPADEC  Ijaw nationality budget project allocation is corrected”.

“Therefore, the SPDC and its contracting companies are hereby warned to stay clear of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom oil producing communities field in their bid to resume operations until the grievances of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom with regard to the DESOPADEC budget is addressed. This is because we cannot produce oil to generate billions of naira to develop other communities even in the face of setting up of DESOPDEC. Enough is enough”, they said.

The people of Ogbe-Ijoh observed and frowned at a purported revelation of the chairman of the DESOPADEC, Chief Wellington Okirika, to the alleged exclusion of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom oil producing communities from the project allocation was not done by him or the commission, but by the Delta State House of Assembly and other relevant government agencies.
 
They, nevertheless, called on the Delta State House of Assembly to correct the anomaly, but Chief Okirika who spoke to Vanguard, some weeks ago, that Ogbe-Ijoh kingdom was not abandoned by the DESOPADEC.
 
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/niger_delta/nd330072007.html

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Comments are closed.