Economic Sabotage: Senate Sets Up Panel On Possible Upgrade of Oloibiri’s Airstrip
*Mulls Air Force base, wants oil firms to fund
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The Senate, yesterday, set up an adhoc committee to work on the possible conversation of the abandoned airstrip in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State, to an Air Force Base.
The upper chamber said its take over by the Air Force would curtail criminal activities and economic sabotage in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
The red chamber’s resolution was sequel to a motion by the senator representing Bayelsa East, Benson Agadaga.
The motion was titled: “Urgent Need For Transformation Of The Abandoned Shell Airstrip At Oloibiri Oil Well 1, Otuogidi in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State to an Air Force Base.”
The Senate also urged the Ministry of Aviation and the Nigeria Air Force to take over and convert the deserted and uncultivable waste land of the abandoned Shell Airstrip at Oloibiri oil well 1, Otuogidi to a modern Air Force Base in Bayelsa State.
It equally resolved that the oil firms operating in Nigeria should be involved in the funding of the upgrade.
In his lead debate, the Bayelsa Senator noted that the Shell Airstrip, constructed in 1958 following the first discovery of crude oil in 1956 and sitting on over 25 hectares of land situated at Itokopiri bush, hosting the famous Oloibiri Oil well 1 in Otuogidi Community, has long been abandoned.
He noted that the Airstrip, while in effective operation, was a very valuable asset in the company’s oil exploration and exploitation activities in airlifting of personnel and equipment for that period.
Agadaga observed that during the years of its functionality, heavy duty equipment, Company Workers, Captains of Industry, top Government functionaries and Diplomats resorted to this route for easy access to the Niger Delta region.
He however, regretted that since the gradual decline of Shell’s operations in the area and final departure from Oloibiri oil field, the Airstrip and the land where it operated have been abandoned and left desolate.
