When Christ spoke in the bible about separating the wheat from the chaff and burning the latter with unquenchable fire, He sure did not have Ikorigho land, Ilaje Local Government Area, Ondo State, in mind. But that is the area that has become the host of an unquenchable fire that has raged for four weeks.
The effects have been devastating as five oil wells belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) in Ojumole, Ajegunle and other communities in Ikorigho land burn endlessly. The oil well fire, it was gathered, had claimed at least four lives, including those of Iraye Orisa, Olababa Boyi Malumi, Vincent Ayadi and Thank God Nomiye.
Their bodies were reportedly deposited at Ayemafuge General Hospital, Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area. Sources in the affected communities said they had gone to fetch water when they were trapped in the fire.
On account of the development, residents now rely mostly on sachet water as the only source of drinking water in the area has been polluted by the fire.
The fire, which started in Ajegunle and spread to Ojumole, also affected Isan-West field, Parable field, Malu field, Ororo, Opokaba, Otumara, Zion Ikorigho, Iluayo, Kendo Ayeren and Ehinmoghan-Ikorigho communities, all in Ilaje Local Government Area.
The cause of the fire, which has elicited reactions from different quarters, was yet to be ascertained at press time. CNL, in a statement issued by the General Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs, Esimaje Brikinn, confirmed the incident, saying that efforts were being made to put out the fire.
However, a community leader in Ojumole, Chief Williams Ayerin, told our correspondent on the phone that the fire was still burning and devastating the area.
He said: “The fire and gas has continued to devastate Ojumole field and another large opening a few metres away from the initial fire that exploded, with bigger inferno emerging from two spots.”
The worried community leader tasked the Ondo State Government to mandate Chevron to put out the raging fire and make the necessary restitution.
Ayerin said: “Our land has been badly neglected—no school, no hospital, no clinic. Our people are completely neglected; the whole of Ikorigho and its satellite towns, such as Otumara, Ilu-eri, Ajegunle, Zion Ikorigho, Ojumola and others.
“Chevron must also relieve some of their staff of their jobs, especially those who deliberately acquired land from fraudsters and people who have no authority over the land where the oil fields and facilities are located, such as Ojumole Field, Opokeba Field, Isan Field, Isan West Field, Parabe Field and Mulu Field, all located in Ikorigho.”
Besides, the community leader urged the state government to give a deserving indigene of Ikorigho an appointment, saying, “We have no representative in Akeredolu’s cabinet”.
According to him, Ikorigho is the most populous homogeneous land in Ilaje Local Government Area, which has not been represented in recent times in spite of its massive contributions to Ondo State and Nigeria at large, with more than six oil fields and over 120 wells.
Ayerin emphasised that the oil-producing community deserves a representative from the performing Akeredolu administration.
A statement from the CNL General Manager, Policy, Government Public Affairs, Esimaje Brikinni, said: “We conducted an over-flight to evaluate the fire and also mobilised emergency responders to assess the site, contain the fire and boom the area.
“In addition, CNL notified community stakeholders about the incident and also reported it to the Department of Petroleum Resources, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and other regulatory and security authorities.
“A joint investigation visit to the site of the incident was conducted on Saturday, April 20, 2019, by a team made up of regulatory agencies, community stakeholders and CNL. We determined that the fire incident was caused by third-party interference. There was no impact to any of the neighboring communities.”
Brikinni insisted that CNL had been working with contractors to safely put out the fire as quickly as possible.
He said: “The CNL remains committed to the safety of the communities and the environment in its areas of operation. We continue to conduct our operations safely, reliably and efficiently, with utmost consideration for protection of people and the environment.”
However, a group, The Concerned Bona-fide Ojumole Community, through its spokesman, Emiloju Owoeye, charged the CNL to put out the raging fire to avoid further destruction.
The group hinged the fire incident on alleged negligence on the part of Chevron, stressing that the development had wreaked immeasurable havoc on its inhabitants.
It urged CNL to commence operation and give compensation to all the affected communities.
Owoyele said: “We know that CNL is committed to the safety of the communities and the environment within its areas of operation and in other places. We, therefore, want such great commitments to be replicated in Ojumole Oil Field.
“We vehemently warn CNL never to have any dealings with or negotiations with any group of people except the bona fide people of Ojumole community in Ugbo Kingdom of Ilaje Local Government.”
The state government, through the Commissioner for Environment, Funso Esan, expressed displeasure over the fire incident at Ojumole oil well.
He spoke during a joint investigation visit of CNL, NOSDRA, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the state Ministry of Environment to the affected communities.
Esan said the state government was greatly concerned about the security and protection of its citizens and neighbouring communities.
There were reports that the facilities at Ojumole have been inactive since the Ijaw/Ilaje crisis in 1998, and every attempt made to make Chevron open and secure the facilities has not been successful.
This, it was learnt, has made the area vulnerable to oil bickering activities and vandalisation of the facilities, leading to oil spillage.
The Ondo State House of Assembly, on its own part, summoned the management of CNL for refusing to address the Ad-hoc Committee on the oil well fire because of the presence of the media.
A representative of the Olugbo-in-Council, a major stakeholder in the oil community, Dr Akin Akinruntan, accused Chevron of short-changing the host community in Ondo State, compared to what transpired in other oil-producing states.
He called for adequate compensation for the damages done to the people in the affected communities.
As at press time, the fire was still raging, and no one could predict when it would be put it out completely.
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