Delta Community Vows to Continue to  Protest Agip’s Neglect

Ijeoma Okonji

After 19 days of protesting   against the gross neglect by   Nigeria Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC), the people of Idheze Community in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State,   yesterday vowed to continue with the agitation until the company accedes to their demands.

The community women had started the protest  on  Wednesday July 6, 2022 by  barricading  the road leading to the  oil wells being operated by NAOC, saying until their  demands are met, they would  not allow the company to have  access.

Almost three weeks of being in the bush under the rain and without any meaningful response from NAOC, the people have declared that they would sustain the protest and blockage of the company’s access to the oil wells in Idheze Community.

Giving update on the protest, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of Idheze Community, Mr. Power Okpure, said  in  a statement that  the attitude of NAOC has vindicated the community which has insisted that the Italian  firm is only interested in getting oil and gas  without  thinking about the development and welfare of the community.

Okpure said: “It is very unfortunate that after 20 days of protest, NAOC has refused to accede to our demands and we are prepared to sustain the agitation which is our right and legal obligation of NAOC.  Before we embarked on the protest, we wrote several letters to the company, which they ignored. The Delta State Government invited  them  twice to discuss our complaints, they failed to honour the invitations. And when we began the protest on July 6, the  Delta State Commissioner for Oil and Gas invited  us to a meeting with   NAOC officials on July 11. At that meeting, the oil company attested to the fact Idheze Community has been a very peaceful host without any history of vandalism or oil theft.  But is this how to repay a peaceful community.”.

He explained that the community sees the action of NAOC as an oppression and injustice, saying that, “for over 10 years, no infrastructural development in our community, no employment for our people and we have been neglected in the area of local content.”

He noted  that instead of putting pressure on NAOC to do the needful, the government is asking us to lift the blockage.

“We consider this  as abnormal and oppressive. This is a company that has failed to develop our and  refused to employ our people for over 10 years. Instead of asking the company to listen to us, we are being asked to suspend our protest. This is unfair and we will not lift the blockage until our demands are met,” Okpure stated.  

 The PRO had explained that the  operations of NAOC is guided by the provision that every four years, there ought  to be  a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with their community.

“The MoU that we signed in 2008 expired in 2011. NAOC refused to sign a new MoU  since then. By our calculation, there ought to have been two separate MoUs between when that of 2008 expired and last year when the government introduced the Petroleum Industrial Act(PIA).  We have appealed to NAOC through the Delta State Ministry of Oil and Gas and other agencies but the company has refused to  listen to us. Hence, we have decided to carry out the protest and we are saying until they compensate us for the years they did not sign MoU, we will not allow them to operate,” he said.