From Joe Obukata Ogbodu, Warri
Life has not been the same for residents of Eastern Obolo and other riverine communities along the Atlantic coast along the Bight of Bonny, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This is because their sole source of livelihood has been contaminated, thus rendering many of the locals who are mainly fishermen jobless.
The development became public knowledge recently when hundreds of the fishermen and locals protested about water pollution and other environmentally hazardous waste products allegedly released into their fishing area by the owners of the FPSO Armada Perkassa (Princess Aweni) in the Okoro-Setu field.
In 2020, SHELF Drilling Nigeria was hired by AMNI Petroleum Development Company, the owner of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 112, Okoro Field, in Eastern Obolo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, to complete drilling work on the firm’s behalf.
There were allegations that SHELF Drilling released its hazardous drilling chemicals into local fishing waters after conducting drilling operations on its rig. The chemicals were allegedly poured from sacks from the Princess Aweni platform into the river.
But the company had since denied it acted that way. The denial, however, did not go down well with the locals who vehemently insisted and told the company that they had a recorded video of the discharge.
Local sources claimed that the company requested that the video be sent to them, to enable them study it before coming up with a position. But the community declined releasing the video expressing distrust of the company on what may happen if the video was released to them.
In 2023, about three years after the incident, the community is demanding justice through a peaceful protest for justice against the SHELF Drilling’s alleged criminal act and negligence of the government of Nigeria and its regulatory agencies in Eastern Obolo territorial waters.
In a recent peaceful protest at its water front, the community called on the government of Akwa Ibom State, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the international community to compel SHELF Drilling and AMNI Petroleum Development Company to do the needful, own up and take responsibility to clean up the environment and pay compensation to the community for loss of livelihood and the damage done to the marine ecosystem.
Mr. Gabriel Ezekiel Gabriel, president of Eastern Obolo Interest Group, who spoke to Daily Sun, decried the long silence of the company over the matter since the complaint was launched. He said the community was against any attempt to carry on a new drilling operation until proper investigation and assessment were carried out to determine the extent of damage done to the community, and proper cleanup done.
Gabriel claimed that, as a coastline community, the economic mainstay of the people of Eastern Obolo was fishing, and the livelihood of the entire community and neighbouring settlements in the region have been destroyed by the activities of SHELF Drilling.
He, therefore, called on the company to engage the community in meaningful negotiation for compensation to the fisherfolk whose means of survival had been hampered.
According to him, the community was ready to take up the campaign to the international level but Harry J. Etetor, Ilile IX, paramount ruler, Eastern Obolo LGA, opted for diplomacy, proposing alternative dispute resolution (ADR), instead of confrontation. He, however, regretted the alleged nonchalant attitude of the company in the matter.
Gabriel said that the activities of the company were also reported to Chief Nte Ukoirem, village head of Edonwik village and chairman of Eastern Obolo/AMNI Petroleum Development Community Relations Committee, and he invited the company for a dialogue as a means to resolving the matter, but SHELF Drilling refused to honour the invitation.
Gabriel said his community had tried every available means to engage the company in order to resolve the matter amicably, but lamented that the company had consistently denied and refused to engage with the community.
“We didn’t do any formal letter to them but we reported to the paramount ruler who is the custodian of the people. We also reported to the chairman of Eastern Obolo. The company was insisting we send them the video recording but we said no, they should come over. How can we send the evidence that we have to them? So, we didn’t write to them since they refused to come down to see for themselves,” he said.
He said the company’s unprofessional waste disposal has disrupted fishing activities in the area, and called on the company to come and meet with the community for proper negotiation and settlement before any expansion work.
“We are mainly fishermen and, since the discharge, our people have been finding it difficult to get good fish to take care of their families. So, there is serious tension, the fishermen are protesting and the community people are also protesting that they wouldn’t allow the company go like that without compensation.
“The company doesn’t have office in Akwa Ibom but they have in Port Harcourt and Lagos, where they are operating from, but as at when the incident happened they were operating from offshore (shallow water) in Akwa Ibom. They usually carry their workers either by boat or helicopter to the platform to work and come back. As I am talking to you, they’re planning to come back there for another operation but we have told them that until they clean up and compensate the community they shouldn’t dare to enter our territories.
“Failure to comply with this simple and peaceful demand will spark more protests in the coming days. Today is the beginning of a series of protests, until the right things are done,” he added.
Speaking on the matter, Mr. Anthony Aalo, the executive director of Kallop Humanitarian and Environmental Center, a non-governmental organisation in the state, expressed displeasure over the manner in which some oil companies and their contractors operate in Niger Delta communities.
He said that the oil companies have no regard for human lives in the region and that the Kallop Center will continue to support oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta for environmental justice.
Aalo said the injustice in Eastern Obolo will no longer be business as usual as the company responsible will be brought to book. He further said that the government regulatory agencies should live up to expectations by monitoring the activities of oil companies and their operations in the region.
Community relations officer of SHELF Drilling Nigeria, Mr. Ladi Dare, when contacted via telephone, exonerated his company of any wrongdoing, saying that there was no spill or chemical discharge, as claimed by the community, to warrant the dialogue or negotiation that the Niger Delta fishing community people were seeking.
He told our correspondent that his company, SHELF Drilling, has not done any rig operation in Eastern Obolo for close to 10 years now and as such could not have been the company being alleged to have discharged chemicals into the water.
In his response, Aalo said they were being economical with the truth with the claim that they haven’t done any rig operation in Akwa Ibom for the period.
“He lied, because AMNI Petroleum Development Company contacted them to do an external drilling for them at the Princess Aweni platform. That was in 2020. I have a video recording of how they discharged the substances and it was confirmed by some workers of SHELF Drilling that the video was recorded from their platform while the discharge was going on. So, for him to claim they have not worked in Akwa-Ibom for 10 years, he lied”, Aalo said.
