Seven Delta communities shut oil firm over spillage
No fewer than seven communities in Delta State, on Friday, shut down the operations of a multinational oil exploration firm operating in their land, Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited (HEOSL).
Over what was described as a lackluster and barbaric approach towards the cleanup of ravaging oil spill in their ancestral homes and farm lands.
The affected communities are Erhobaro Etavwobakai, Etewhia, Obaro Uku,Ovara Unukpo, Atagbuwe and Eroike, all in Ughelli North and Ehiope East Local Government Areas of Delta State.
The communities’ representatives while narrating their ordeals in the hands of the management of HEOSL, said that the communities woke up in August 2019 to observe their farmlands, ponds, rivers and streams overflowed with hydrocarbon (crude oil) from the failed facility of HEOSL as a result all their means of livelihood were destroyed, leaving the people in acute poverty, hungry and suffering.
Speaking on behalf of the affected communities, Chief John Ikushoni (President General, Erhoke Community), said that since 2019, the affected communities had not had access to clean water as all their lands were polluted with crude oil from the faulty facilities of the HESOL especially the rivers that had turned red while all efforts to compel the oil company to clean their land and refertilize for the farmers to go back to their farmlands had failed.
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He said: “Anytime we meet them they continue to post us here and there and at the end of the day, they gave us frivolous excuses because they feel they can go to the land and do anything they like and the military men threatening to kill us and drive us out from the land.”
While calling on the Delta State and Federal Government and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to prevail on Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited HEOSL to do the needful, or it remained shut down, they however said that as the rainy season was approaching, the people were in danger because both the communities and their farmlands will be covered with crude oil.
But in swift reaction, HEOSL official, who spoke to our correspondent on telephone on condition of anonymity, said: “We are still operating in the area. The people tried to ensure that the operations were shut down when the military men moved into their plans and threatened to open fire on them when they ran away”.
He dismissed all forms of allegations against the oil firm as untrue, adding that “We are not in any way doing what the people accused us about, therefore the people were just telling lies against us as oil company. There was no spill at all”.
