………. ‘Engage us or be shut down’
The Ekpeye Oil and Gas Pipeline Host Communities (EOGPHC), representing the Orashi communities, which play host to the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Train 7 project in Rivers state have threatened to shut down the facility if the federal government and the partnering companies failure to engage them.
EOGPHC demands that the federal government and the participating companies address their challenges, else, they would move against all multinationals in their area.
The stakeholders lamented that International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in their communities have brought a lot of life-threatening challenges to them and have impoverished them for too long.
Speaking on behalf of the communities, the national chairman of EOGPHC, Chidi Idogini, said it was unacceptable for the federal government and the NLNG to continue engaging and consulting only the Bonny communities in the Train 7 project while Orashi communities are being sidelined.
Idogini said that the Train 7 is coming from Ekpeye and part of Ogba communities, and therefore, the government should pay more attention to the source of the raw material instead of Bonny, which is the location of the terminal.
Idogini insisted that “NLNG cannot start the Train 7 contract without involving the Ekpeye nation, because the Train 7 is totally a business that has to do with Ekpeye and partly Ogba communities.
“This Train 7 is coming from Ekpeye so it is expedient for them to come and discuss with us because we will not allow any company to come to Ekpeye land to do the drilling without due consultation and involvement.
“Go to Bonny, which is just a transmission centre and see what is happening there, but here where it will be drilled, nothing.
“We are calling on every well-meaning sons and daughters of Ekpeye to take it on themselves. We are championing the interests of Ekpeye people where some persons will benefit.
According to him, “NLNG cannot employ 12,000 persons in Bonny and feel that Ekpeye people will be happy. That will never happen. They must come here. If they feel they want to balkanize Ekpeye, they want to come in and feed fat, that era has gone.”
“We are calling on the governor to take it as a matter of utmost urgency to talk to the IOCs because they are trying to introduce what is known as divide and rule method and we will not accept that.
“What we want to achieve is industrial harmony. If they don’t come, that project must be put on hold. There are pertinent issues we need to address before they start,” Idogini warned.
By Sunday Elom
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