ANAMBRA ASSEMBLY ACCUSES OIL COMPANY OF ECONOMIC SABOTAGE, ENVIRONMENT DESTRUCTION

REPORTER: UCHE NDEKE

The Anambra State House of Assembly has expressed great concern about what it called illegal activities of a company exploring oil products in Ogwuikpele Community, Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state.

The Chairman House Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources, Mr. Chidi Ibemeka, stated this shortly after the law makers went on an inspection of the activities going on in the oil producing community.

There have been accusations and denials if what has been going on in the area is a full-fledged operation.

This prompted the Anambra House of Assembly Committee on Petroleum to undertake the inspection of the area to ascertain the reality and the level of impact the oil exploration has on the community.

The committee discovered that the company did not have metering system to account for the resources they were drilling, while gas products were being transported outside the state through underground pipes laid through River Niger to Delta State.

The Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Ibemeka, said they also observed that the company was loading products in batches without any accounting system while employment opportunities were not offered to Anambra State indigenes.

He expressed their disappointment with the company’s disregard for its financial obligations to the state government as well as its Corporate Social Responsibilities to the host community.

Mr. Ibemeka promised that the House would take decisive action in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including the executive arm of government to find sustainable solutions to mitigate the negative impacts of crude oil exploration in the area.

In an interview, the President General of Ogwuikpele, Mr. Sunday Madupue, accused the company of not carrying them along in their activities, even as he noted that the oil exploration was already impacting negatively on their farmlands without any succour coming their way.

In his response, the company’s Base Manager, Mr. Kylian Mahtre, claimed that their activities were in line with the Federal Government’s provisions and operational guidelines.

While confirming that the company had been transporting finished gas from Ogwuikpele Community down to Delta State, the Base Manager said he was not aware of the quantity of resources they explore daily from Anambra State as it was his office in Lagos that had such information.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU