From George Onyejiuwa,Owerri
Ameshi Youths in Oguta community, Oguta Local Government Council of Imo State, yesterday, protested allegedneglect and marginalisation of the community by the oil company operating in the area. They accused the company of only drilling oil on their land without employing indigenes nor assisting the community.
The youths who barricaded the entrance of the Sterling Oil, located on OM39, Oguta, saying they were angry that the company was embarking on construction of a road to neighbouring states when the host community was lacking good roads and other meaningful infrastructural development.
Oguta Youth President, Udo Ogaranya said: “What we are seeing now is that they are now constructing and creating roads to Anambra and Rivers states. But this is our land from where they are operating. If they are supposed to construct any road, they are supposed to start from here in Oguta, not to divert to Anambra and Rivers States.
“We are not even aware of what they are doing here, they don’t consult us on whatever they are doing. The house member representing Oguta has invited them severally, but they never responded to any of the calls, that is why we are here to tell them they should come. We want the Federal Government to come to our rescue. Let them come and let us settle amicably, we don’t want to be violent.
They should recognise us, it’s not fair. We are calling on the Federal Government to intervene, because the youths are angry. Please government should come and save us from this situation before it gets out of hand. They have not seen any Oguta community leader, they have been here for like two years now. This is not the first time we are coming here, this is the third time, we don’t want to have any problem with anybody,” he said .
The youth leader disclosed that Shell had been paying Oguta community but Sterling Global is dealing with Anambra State. “We don’t know the reason. Even the Imo House of Assembly has invited them severally but they refused to appear before the House.”
All the workers working here are from Anambra State, none of our indigene is working here.
Engineer Henry Uzor, another youth in the area said: “This company has been operating since last year and this land is owned by Oguta people. This land was first acquired by Shell and we have the documents up till now.
“We want to dialogue with this company,but it has refused dialogue. We will March out with force. There is no infrastructural development, nothing is happening in this community. This place is known as OM39.” However, an SOS call to the government during the protest brought the presence of the lawmaker representing Oguta local government area Henry Ezediaro to calm the situation”.
The Lawmaker representing Oguta state constituency , Hon. Henry Ezediaro who confirmed that several petitions by the community against the activities of the oil company is presently in the floor of the house of assembly and the lawmakers on several occasion have called the company for a meeting but that the have refused to appear.
“We have received several petitions from the community and they are all here. The petitions bothering on basic things that Sterling Global are supposed to have as an agreement. Recently another petition came that there is an ongoing Road construction that is linking Imo state and Anambra state and another one to link Rivers state. And the people of the community are saying they are not aware of such arrangement and Imo state government is not aware of such arrangements. And any such arrangement must be brought to the floor of the house and we have invited you and you refuse to come. You are only calling for anarchy. So we insist that Sterling global must appear before the Imo house of assembly, must appear before the Government of Imo state before any further construction will go in in this place, please that’s the reason why we are here.
The message for the Youths, is that we are appealing to them to be calm that they should not take laws into their hands, that the situation is been addressed and that we are here personal as the government of Imo state and apart from refutation of letters and radio We are calling for a total stoppage of all activities, because that is which is the rest,its encumbered and you cannot continue to explore oil here, we say all activities must stop otherwise they will be seen as putting the laws in their hands because this is the government of the day and the government has spoken”.
However, the representative of the company Chidi Richmond who came out to receive the protesters appealed to the youths to remain calm and assured them that their message would be delivered to the appropriate authority and they would get feedback soon.
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OGUTA YOUTHS/sd Oguta youths protest neglect by oil company From GEORGE ONYEJIUWA,Owerri The youths of Ameshi in Oguta community, Oguta Local Government Council of Imo State, yesterday, protested the neglect and marginalisation of the community by the oil company operating in the community. They accused the company of only drilling oil on their land without employing indigenes of the community nor assisting the community. The youths who barricaded the entrance of the Sterling oil company located at OM39 in Oguta, accused the company of embarking on construction of a road linking the oil company to Anambra State and Rivers State without even constructing a single road in the community where they are operating. They said they were angry that the company was embarking on construction of a road to neighbouring states when the host community was lacking good roads and other meaningful infrastructural development. Oguta Youth President, Udo Ogaranya said: “What we are seeing now is that they are now constructing and creating roads to Anambra and Rivers states. But this is our land where they base. If they are supposed to do any road, they are supposed to start from here in Oguta direct, not to divert to Anambra and Rivers states. They are residing in our land. “We are not even aware of what they are doing here, they don’t consult us on whatever they are doing. The house member representing Oguta has invited them severally, but they never responded to any of the calls, that is why we are here to tell them they should come. We want the Federal Government to come to our rescue. Let them come let us settle amicably, we don’t want to be violent. They should recognise us, it’s not fair. We are calling on the Federal Government to intervene, because the youths are angry. Just few of them came out. Please government should come and save us from this situation before it gets out of hand. They have not seen any Oguta community leader, they have been here for like two years now. This is not the first time we are coming here, this is the third time, we don’t want to have any problem with anybody,” he said . The youth leader disclosed that Shell has been paying Oguta community but Sterling global is dealing with Anambra State. “We don’t know the reason. Even the Imo House of Assembly has invited them severally but they refused to appear before the House. All the workers working here are from Anambra State, none of our indigene is working here. Engineer Henry Uzor, another youth in the area said: “This company has been operating since last year and this land is owned by Oguta people. This land was first acquired by Shell and we have the documents up till now. “We want to dialogue with this company,but it has refused dialogue. We will March out with force. There is no infrastructural development, nothing is happening in this community. This place is known as OM39.” However, an SOS call to the government during the protest brought the presence of the lawmaker representing Oguta local government area Henry Ezediaro to calm the situation”. The Lawmaker representing Oguta state constituency , Hon. Henry Ezediaro who confirmed that several petitions by the community against the activities of the oil company is presently in the floor of the house of assembly and the lawmakers on several occasion have called the company for a meeting but that the have refused to appear. “We have received several petitions from the community and they are all here. The petitions bothering on basic things that Sterling Global are supposed to have as an agreement. Recently another petition came that there is an ongoing Road construction that is linking Imo state and Anambra state and another one to link Rivers state. And the people of the community are saying they are not aware of such arrangement and Imo state government is not aware of such arrangements. And any such arrangement must be brought to the floor of the house and we have invited you and you refuse to come. You are only calling for anarchy. So we insist that Sterling global must appear before the Imo house of assembly, must appear before the Government of Imo state before any further construction will go in in this place, please that’s the reason why we are here. The message for the Youths, is that we are appealing to them to be calm that they should not take laws into their hands, that the situation is been addressed and that we are here personal as the government of Imo state and apart from refutation of letters and radio We are calling for a total stoppage of all activities, because that is which is the rest,its encumbered and you cannot continue to explore oil here, we say all activities must stop otherwise they will be seen as putting the laws in their hands because this is the government of the day and the government has spoken”. However, the representative of the company Chidi Richmond who came out to receive the protesters appealed to the youths to remain calm and assured them that their message would be delivered to the appropriate authority and they would get feedback soon. |