Bayelsa Govt Warns Communities in Land Dispute Against Violence

**Urges OKOROMA Women To Vacate NAOC Facility

Bayelsa State Government has again warned communities embroiled in land and boundary disputes to refrain from resorting to armed violence, as government would deal decisively with any community found wanting.

The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the warning at a meeting with leaders of Elepa and Egweama communities in Nembe and Brass local government areas respectively.

Senator Ewhrudjakpo, said government would not hesitate to apprehend leaders of communities, who encourage armed conflicts with their neighbours over ownership of ancestral lands.

He called on the leaders of Elepa and Egweama communities to maintain the peace in their areas, as the ownership of the land where the Elepa Oil Fields are located is the subject of an ongoing legal suit at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Emphasizing the need to maintain the existing peace in all parts of the state, the Deputy Governor made it clear that as a responsible government, the Governor Douye Diri-led administration would not fold its arms and watch two communities go to war.

To this end, he directed the state Police Command to liaise with other security agencies to protect lives and property in the area, including the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) facilities at the five Elepa oil wells.

The Deputy Governor added that government might direct the SPDC to open an escrow account into which all royalties accruing from the five oil wells will be paid, pending when the Supreme Court delivers its judgement on the land ownership dispute.

Representations were made by the Chairman, Nembe Divisional Council of Chiefs, Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange, the CDC Chairman of Egweama, Mr. Tonye Yemoleigha, and the Paramount Ruler of Elepa Community, His Royal Highness Gelegukuma Apiri at the meeting.

In another development, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has appealed to the leaders of Okoroma clan to prevail on their women to vacate Nigerian AGIP Oil Company (NAOC) Oil Flow Station belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), as machinery had been put in place to address their grouse.

He made the appeal at a meeting with representatives of NAOC and leaders of Okoroma led by the Chairman of the Okoroma Council of Chiefs, His Royal Highness Ebinimi Donka Solomon.

Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who expressed government’s concern about the power outage in Okoroma, urged the people to demobilize from the oil platform, since the company had already started repairing the broken down power plant to restore power in the clan.

The Bayelsa number two man, however, decried the attitude of oil firms for always failing to fulfill promises they make to their host communities, stressing that maintaining their integrity will make things easy for themselves, the government and the communities.

His words: “Government is really, really concerned about the light issue in Okoroma, which has led to the shutdown of the NAOC oil flowstation there.

“We want you to talk to your women and prevail on them to leave the facility. We have already told NAOC to take steps to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

“We expect the oil companies to maintain their integrity by fulfilling their promises. They should make things easy for government.”

In their joint presentation, the Chairman of the Okoroma Chiefs Council, Chief Ebinimi Donka Solomon, and the spokesman, Chief Kienwiro Nanyo, explained that the women occupied the flow station because of the protracted electricity problem in the area.

While appreciating the effort of government to resolve the issue, they also appealed to the state government to establish a functional hospital in the area as there is none in the entire clan.

Speaking on behalf of the NAOC, the Stakeholders and Community Development Manager, Mrs Moji Olorode, assured that the company was intensifying efforts to restore power supply to Okoroma.

Mrs Olorode, who thanked the state government for intervening in the matter, pointed out that there were some safety concerns at the occupied oil flow station that needed to be addressed to forestall unnecessary loss of lives and property.