Odahiekwu Ogunde, Yenagoa
Barring any quick reconciliation, the Twon Brass Kingdom in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State is set for a showdown with an international oil firm, Nigerian Agip Oil Company, as the 30-day ultimatum given the firm expires.
The community had handed down the ultimatum to the oil firm over alleged disregard and violation of laws and guidelines of Nigeria in the firm’s operations at the Brass Export Terminal.
The Council of Chiefs in a nine-page letter had issued the ultimatum demanding a meeting with the management of the company to resolve issues of pollution and environmental management plan since 43 years it started operations in Twon Brass.
The letter said, “Twon Brass Kingdom has continuously suffered an onslaught of liquid, gaseous, solid and noise pollution from your company’s operations since 1973. It would be premature to pinpoint which of the three pollutants has impacted severely on the flora and fauna in the community but the most obvious is oil gas pollution.
“We have borne the brunt of the value chain of export namely: separation of crude from the flow station and facilities; dumping of waste water after separation into pits in Brass terminal; discharge of untreated waste into Agip canal and emission of unused gas in liquid and gaseous forms in the Twon Brass terminal.”
The chiefs expressed disappointment with the Memorandum of Understanding signed which did not include other organs of the kingdom like the elder’s council, women group and the youth.
They noted that previous attempts to resolve issues had been frustrated by the company, adding that it did not allow them take necessary steps to seek redress for the people.
They said the chiefs would be compelled to use all legitimate means to seek redress if Agip failed or refused to meet their ultimatum to engage them on the issues or attempt to frustrate the meeting.
Oil Industry experts said a disruption of operations at Brass terminal, which is the largest Agip’s oil facility in Nigeria, would upset oil output in the country and create serious instability in the economy.
Checks indicated that the Council of Chiefs was very resolute and had decided not to back down on their demands to the company.