The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bayelsa

  • Anger, confusion in Bayelsa local govts over arrears of unpaid salaries

    All is not well between local government workers in Bayelsa State and their chairmen. The workers are angry that about four months of their salaries have not been paid by the council bosses.

    Confronted with economic hardship, the local council employees are not buying their chairmen excuses that the dwindling revenue allocation from the Federal Government has affected their wages.

    There are eight local government areas in Bayelsa, the least in all the states in the country. The workers are of the opinion that with the oil-producing status of the state and the reduced number of local councils, the chairmen should not have problem paying salaries despite the economic crunch.

    Besides, they argued that the Chairman of Brass Local Government Area, paid his workers up to May salaries. Why then are the chairmen of Sagabama, Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw, Nembe, Ekeremor and Kolokuma-Opokuma unable to pay their bills? They queried.

    The Secretary, Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWU), Mr. Lartan Bany and the Chairman of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) said the governor had no hand in their travails. Bany said the local government chairmen admitted that the governor never interfered in their revenue allocations from the Federal Government.

    The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Esueme Kikile, said the government had intervened to ensure that the outstanding salaries of the workers were paid.

    He said: “The present administration in the state has demonstrated its commitment to local government autonomy and has the policy of zero deductions from local government allocations”.

    But the Bayelsa Democratic Watch Forum (BDWF) blamed the salary crisis on the inefficient management of finances by the chairmen. The group in a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr. Binaebi Femo and Secretary, Mr. Tari Oki, thanked the MHWU and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) for calling off their strike.

    While NULGE and the MHWU are leaking their wounds and raining curses on their chairmen, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) are heaping praises on the state governor for promptly paying their monthly salaries.

    A statement by the State council chairmen of NLC, Ebipere Ndiomu and his TUC counterpart, Dounana Tari, said that their members were appreciative of the governor’s gesture which would keep the workers committed to duty and raise productivity.

    They said that they were aware of the personal sacrifices the governor had made to ensure that salaries were paid regularly despite the shortfall in revenue from the federation account.

     

  • Siasia felicitates with Fashola at 52

    Siasia felicitates with Fashola at 52

    Chairman of Mosilo group, Moses Siasia on Sunday congratulated the immediate past governor of Lagos state, Raji Fashola on his birthday.

    This was contained in a congratulatory message signed by Siasia, Chairman of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum and governorship candidate for Bayelsa state.

    The Bayelsa gubernatorial candidate in his message described Fashola as an inspirational and detribalized leader of this age.

    “BRF Sir, as you celebrate your 52nd Birthday, I heartily congratulate you on your sincere leadership to humanity, you have displayed an unusual care to everyone you come in contact with by giving a listening ear and attention expecially those who are seen as trustees of posterity from other parts of the country.

    “You are indeed an inspiration to our generation. May God continually grant you success in all your pursuits and give you good health to achieve your desires.

    “Happy Birthday to a true Nigerian leader, a father and a gentle man,” he summed.

  • Bayelsa police rescue two abducted Lebanese

    Two expatriates and Lebanese nationals abducted in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, have been rescued by the police.

    The Lebanese identified as Sarki Abi Chmouli and Ibrahim Abi Pherem were kidnapped by eight gunmen on Wednesday at the waterside of Onuegbum.

    The bandits in the process of whisking away their targets, who are employees of a construction company, Pache, killed two policemen.

    The slain policemen were identified by their ranks as sergeant and corporal.

    The gunmen numbering eight invaded the company’s dredging site located close to the community at about 12.20pm on two speedboats.

    The bandits created panic in the area by firing repeated gunshots into the air apparently to counter possible resistance.

    But the Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Butswat Asinim, said the police pursued the fleeing gunmen and forced them to abandon their victims on Thursday.

    He said the Lebanese were abandoned at Okodi, a riverine community in Ogbia local government because of the manhunt.

    He said: “On the 25 June, 2015, at about 1500hrs, the two labanese expatriates; Ibrahim Abi Phrem and Sarkis Abi Chmooni, were abducted on the 24 June, 2015 at Ogbia LGA of Bayelsa State.

    “They were abandoned by their abductors at Okodi riverine community in Ogbia LGA, due to the massive manhunt by the Police. They are hale and hearty and they have been reunited with their families.”

    Reacting to the development, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Ogbia clan, commended the police for quickly intervening to rescue the abducted expatriates.

    The Chairman of the clan, Mr. Osanya Osanya, however, mourned the death of the two policemen and commiserated with their families.

    Osanya warned youths who engage in kidnapping and other criminality to desist from them and seek legitimate means of livelihood.

    “We are warning youths in our area to be of good conduct and sustain the peace in the Niger Delta region. We won’t hesitate to assist the police to fish out whoever engages in criminality because we can’t fold our hands and watch a few people damage our name,” he said.

  • Why Bayelsa pays salaries despite economic distress 

    Why Bayelsa pays salaries despite economic distress 

    Despite the economic crunch which has rendered about 18 states incapable of paying their workers, Bayelsa prides itself as one of the few states that regularly pay their workers. The state is also not ranked among the heavily indebted states in the country.

    A prominent Niger Delta activist and Coordinator, Ijaw Monitoring Group, Mr. Joseph Evah, told Niger Delta Report that the approach adopted by the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, was the reason behind salary payment by the government.

    Evah even advised governors in distressed states to understudy the management skills of Dickson. He urged such governors to find out the level of financial prudence employed by the governor to keep Bayelsa afloat despite the economic crunch and debt burden in the country.

    Evah said Bayelsa is fortunate to have Dickson at the helms of affairs at a time many states are  unable to meet their basic financial obligations including payment of salaries. Speaking in Yenagoa recently, he asked Bayelsans to count themselves fortunate and to repay the governor by reelecting him for a second term.

    He said: “Despite the various strides in infrastructure, education, health and economic development, Bayelsa State is not an indebted state as a borrower in the capital market and it is  also a reminder to the skeptics that the state was not one of several others listed either among the heavily indebted states or the least indebted as current figures of the Debt Management Office (DMO) in the external debt categories indicated”.

    He said the leadership style of the governor has distinguished him as a visionary and modern manager with indent understanding of public policy and public finance.

    He said the financial crunch weighing down many states with the biggest problem being inability to pay salaries was caused by excessive borrowing and the challenge of dwindling revenue from the federation account.

    According to him borrowing without a productive base is not a sustainable policy and as such should be discouraged forthwith. He, however, acknowledged that  Bayelsa despite going through the same revenue shortfall from the centre as other states, is able to keep afloat because of careful planning, blocking of leakages in the system, prudent and purposeful use of public funds and zero tolerance to corruption.

    Evah said diversification of the national economy was key praising the state government for being in the forefront of exploiting alternative means of revenue other than oil and gas.

    He said: “At a time like this, I think we should take stock of the challenges of development in Bayelsa State and with particular reference to the governor’s management style and results in economic development as a factor of public sector finance management.

    “We have followed the national debates in the last few weeks on the tough situations in the economy which has a common concern in liquidity crisis where debt overhang is a major issue across the states and the widespread concern about inability to pay salaries.

    “Although borrowing is not a bad thing when tied to specific development agenda, excessive borrowing to the extent of constituting liability to effective running of governments and meeting statutory obligations is an issue.

    “While we are not in any position to condemn those caught in the web of financial tightrope especially in view of the huge shortfall in revenue from the federation account, we find it important to draw the attention of our people back home to the shrewd management by Governor Seriake Dickson which has helped to keep the state afloat till date.

    “Indeed, we believe that the economic diversification agenda of the state government is the future which can help to create jobs and rely less and less on oil and gas. It is the solution to economic stability and sustenance.

    “The truth is that no one state in the nation today can claim to be performing at optimal capacity for obvious reasons but the fact that Bayelsa State has continued to pay salaries and running government to keep up with other statutory obligations is a feat we should commend. It clearly speaks to vision, capacity, prudence and good leadership.

    “We find it important to make this point to correct critics of the state government who are usually influenced by politics rather than the remarkable achievements of the governor.”

    Furthermore, the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Esueme Kikile, said the governor employed prudence, accountability and transparency to manage the resources of the state and ensure that workers were not shortchanged.

    He said Dickson constituted a Financial Management Committee chaired by his Deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd) and mandated it to carry out monthly review of government’s financial obligations and ensure that the basic ones are fulfilled.

    Kikile said the salaries of workers  are the first-line charge of the government adding that other financial obligations including project execution were secondary.

    “It is our highest priority as a government. We don’t want to put the workers in a situation where they won’t be able to meet up with their family obligations.

    “So, we make salaries the first-line charge. What we do is once we get our receipt from the Federation Account, after all necessary deductions, we then pay salaries. That is why we are witnessing a lull in our projects. It is a strategic  management process put together by the governor”.

  • We are preparing to unseat PDP in Bayelsa – APC

    We are preparing to unseat PDP in Bayelsa – APC

    All Progressive Congress (APC), Bayelsa State chapter, Wednesday said it was preparing itself to sweep the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of power in 2016.

    The party’s state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Panebi Fortune, said the PDP was already dead and had accepted defeat following the exodus of prominent politicians out of the party ahead of the election.

    Fortune who spoke in Yenagoa also dismissed insinuations of internal crisis in the APC following the suspension of some party members accused of anti-party activities.

    “What happened was that we discovered that some expelled members of the APC were recruited and paid huge sums of money by the PDP to cause problem in our midst.

    “One of the expelled members, Richard Kpodo deceived some APC members to use them for the purpose of creating crisis among us. We discovered on time and acted fast by suspending persons known to have met with Kpodo.

    “As expected, these persons formed what they called the Integrity Group to fight back. They embarked on a failed jocular mission of issuing a statement saying that they have also suspended some members of the State Working Committee (SWC) including our able Chairman, Mr. Tiwe Oruminighe,” he said.

    He said the statement was laughable as no group or organisation has the power to suspend members of the party apart from SWC.

    “It is a huge joke. We really do not want to dignify these people with our response. But as an individual after reading the statement I laughed because the people sounded like comedians,” he said.

    He asked members of the party and persons willing to join the party to disregard the activities of the group insisting that the people behind the group were sponsored by the PDP government.

    “The APC is intact. We are one family and we are working with one purpose of seizing power from the clueless PDP to better the lots of Bayelsans. We are, however, bent on ensuring party discipline,” he said.

    He said a disciplinary committee had been set up to further probe the activities of the suspended members and to review their punishment.

    Fortune said if found unrepentant, the suspension could be converted to expulsion adding that the party would not allow anybody to sow a seed of discord within its fold.

  • Bayelsa: What manner of assembly?

    Democracy is held to be the most advanced and judicious form of governance developed by man. It gives people a say in how their affairs are ordered and to choose those to superintendent over their affairs. Therein lies its beauty.

    But it is also a system that accommodates the ugly, the malcontent and even those working to subvert its tenets. The flaws in the system have become worryingly visible, essentially because of the character of politicians and their do-or-die notion of politics. Many practitioners of the art in our clime see political enterprise solely within the prism of capturing power and deploying the most Machiavellian methods and tactics to realise their ambition. The endpoint of this conception of politics is largely prebendal: crude acquisition of power for primitive accumulation in furtherance of a selfish, hedonistic lifestyle as opposed to working in the service of the people.

    This mindset undoubtedly undergirds the unfolding political macabre dance in Bayelsa State by a fractious elite formation masquerading as the new conscience of the people but which, in fact, is united by the pursuit of greed. Their kind is all too familiar and their motive clear: acquire political power by means more foul than fair and then set upon the public treasury with reckless abandon. As late Professor Claude Ake noted, the problem with development in Africa is not so much that development has failed but that it was never really on the agenda of the rulers in the first place. It is the politics of prebendalism as popularly analysed by Professor Richard Joseph. What seems to matter to this set of politicians is never the germane question of the utility of political power in relation to the interest of the people.

    The undiscerning would hardly equate the foregoing mindset with the recent advertorial published in The Nation by the self-styled Bayelsa Peoples Consultative Assembly. There is a pretended public spiritedness as the motivation but it was so much high falutin nonsense.

    The publication, among other things, raised posers on alleged high-handedness by the state government in running its affairs, claimed that successive governments in the state had not met the expectations of the people in terms of development and wondered “whether or not the strategic interest of our dear state can still be served through the PDP which has become the opposition party at the federal level and in many states of the country”.

    Accordingly, the purported assembly declared in the 4th of its 5-point resolutions: “As a result of this state of affairs in governance and in the PDP, the Bayelsa Peoples Consultative Assembly resolves to align ourselves with the APC to effect a new direction in the governance of the state”.

    Now, are they leaving the PDP because it lost election at the centre and thus lost the privilege to enjoy unmerited favour? And are they now seeking power elsewhere perhaps to continue to enjoy privileges attached to power which they are in danger of losing or are they out to serve the people? What is their objective in politics?

    To be sure, everyone is entitled to exercise their freedom of association and to change political parties as they deem expedient. What they are not entitled to do unchallenged is to clothe their selfish motivation with the robe of principled conviction and high-minded politics.

    A cursory look at the names on the attendance list as published and then discerning their hidden promoters indicate that they were all until recently members of the PDP, who at one point or the other, also occupied important positions in government both at the state and federal levels. Now with President Goodluck Jonathan no longer in power, they have suddenly found everything wrong with the PDP and with the state government whose largesse they had hitherto enjoyed.

    What is in fact playing out is an offshoot of the governor’s long-running battle with this class of politicians on the proper utilisation of state resources. Are these resources to be used to serve the people or are they to be cornered to serve the greed of a few? The selfish conception of the purpose of politics and power is what retarded development in the state since the era of the late statesman, Chief Milford Okilo.

    Now, however Bayelsans can never exchange the present peace and tranquility in the state as well as the unprecedented level of development for the chaos and unmitigated rent culture of the past.

    To the unsuspecting public, the so-called consultative assembly sounded public-spirited but it is all a charade: the driving force of the members is to return the state to the status quo ante where the resources were shared among a few greedy lot at the expense of state development and the welfare of the people. These are the same set of people who, since 1999, have benefitted in state and federal appointments which came with huge influence and privileges. But what did they do with such power and influence? What has been their vision and achievements in the economic development of the state and empowerment of Bayelsans? These people have no record of distinction in personal enterprise, they never set up or run any business neither are they noted for empowering the people beyond meagre handouts. Their business was profiteering in politics, pure and simple. Their modus operandi, which is repeated ad nauseum, is to gang up against the government of the day to press for unreasonable demands and when such is resisted, they resort to threats, blackmail and promote instability. These same people have promoted a culture of impunity in governance over time resulting in wanton looting .

    All they want is free access to money which will enable them to live big at the expense of quality education for the people, at the expense of good medicare, infrastructure and employment generation. Academic to them are visions of economic diversification to change Bayelsa State from being a civil service state to a productive economy that can create good jobs and ensure long term, solid development.

    These are the dividing lines between the new found voices in the Consultative Assembly and the Restoration Government headed by Governor Seriake Dickson in Bayelsa State.

    Without question, the incumbent Restoration Government has in the last three years made its presence felt in major areas of development: from free, compulsory and qualitative education to health, landmark infrastructure and economic empowerment. And for the first time, there is an articulated, overarching vision of development rooted in good governance. Resetting the apparatus of government has led to greater efficiency and the remarkable progress so far is well known to all, except the power mongers.

    The creed of transparency and accountability has paid off, leading to blockage of leakages and is the reason the inherited huge wage bill of N6 billion came down to N4 billion monthly and why the state government is among those that can still pay salaries regularly till date in spite of the suffocating economic situation in the country.

    The issue in the state is not the orchestrated discontent we see in the media but the fact that the era of special interests is gone for good. The profiteers from the misery of our people, like all vested interests who benefit from such ungodly enterprise are not happy.

    Thus joining the opposition by anybody is not the issue. What is their motivation? Although it is now much harder for them to prevail, no matter how they try in a free and fair election, judging by what is on the ground in the state, Bayelsans and the general public should ask those in the so-called assembly about their antecedents and what roles they have played in development of the state since they had all along been part and parcel of the past governments they are now discrediting? In which case, they are guilty as well. So, how can they represent any part of the future of Bayelsa State?

    These are yesterday’s men seeking yet again to confiscate Bayelsa’s future. This time, our people will not allow them.

    ‘Without question, the incumbent Restoration Government has in the last three years made its presence felt in major areas of development: from free, compulsory and qualitative education to health, landmark infrastructure and economic empowerment. And for the first time, there is an articulated, overarching vision of development rooted in good governance’

    • Iworiso-Markson, is Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Bayelsa State Governor

     

  • Dickson to Bayelsa elders: you are greedy, hypocritical

    Dickson to Bayelsa elders: you are greedy, hypocritical

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has said some elders who plan to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) are greedy and hypocritical politicians.

    The elders, under the aegis of Bayelsa Peoples Consultative Assembly (BPCA), accused Dickson of highhandedness in running the state.

    But in a statement in Yenagoa, the state capital, by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the governor said the accusations were misplaced.

    He said they were disguised reasons to justify the elders’ motives which, he said, were motivated by greed.

    The statement said: “Obviously, this is an opportunistic lobby group desperately in search of power without any modicum of integrity. They should be reminded that contrary to their assertions, they actually constitute the problem of development in the state and not Governor Dickson.

    “What is playing out is an offshoot of the governor’s long running battle with this class of politicians on the proper utilisation of state resources to serve the people and never to serve the greed of the few.

    “Their selfish conception of politics and attitude in government are what has retarded development in the state since the era of the late statesman, Chief Melford Okilo.

    “Bayelsans can never exchange the present peace and tranquility in the state as well as the unprecedented level of development for the chaos and unmitigated rent culture of the past.”

  • ‘APC should resolve Bayelsa crisis’

    ‘APC should resolve Bayelsa crisis’

    A leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Mr. Godwin Sidi, has called on the national leadership of the party to intervene in the crisis rocking the chapter.

    Sidi, a former Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (NPDP), was among the seven leaders suspended for alleged anti-party activities.

    He said his appeal for the intervention of the national leadership was to save the APC from disintegration, ahead of next year’s governorship election.

    He described his suspension as unconstitutional claiming that the person who signed the document containing the purported action, Mr. Marlin Daniel was no longer the party’s Secretary.

    He said: “I find it expedient to react to the said suspension, reason being that the person who made the announcement, Mr. Marlin Daniel, does not have the capacity to do so because he is no longer the secretary of our great party, APC.

    “You may recall that the so-called Marlin Daniel resigned as the state secretary to contest the just concluded House of Assembly elections and as such he is no longer the secretary.

    “If by any means he is parading himself as one, he should be regarded as an impostor and the public should disregard him. There is no truth in the suspension and it is baseless and does not hold water.

    “I am therefore, calling on the South-South Vice Chairman and national leadership of our great party to intervene in order to strengthen the state structure. Their intervention will also avert disintegration ahead of the coming governorship election in the state.”

    Sidi alleged that the suspension was meant to distract members of the APC and the public from gross misconduct, abuse of office by the state Chairman, Tiwei Orunimighe and his cronies.

    Another suspended elder of the party, Mr. Christopher Abareowei, said the suspension was illegal.

    He said: “Some of the APC members allegedly connived among themselves to suspend some party members without following the party rules and constitution as well as the law of fair hearing.

  • Bayelsa communities at war with oil firm

    Bayelsa communities at war with oil firm

    In this report, our correspondent in Yenagoa, Mike Odiegwu, writes about oil spill in some communities and how the people are demanding for clear action from the oil firm responsible.

    Okpotuwari and Ondewari communities in Olodiama clan, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, may not be good neighbours. But they have one thing in common – crude oil spills. They bear the brunt of playing hosts to the Ossiama-Ogboibiri pipelines belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

    Most times, the pipeline either by act of sabotage or equipment failure spill the black gold into the environment. The communities are, indeed, always raising the alarm about the environmental damage caused by such incessant spills.

    For instance in April, a spill occurred along the pipeline. Following the outcries of the communities, the spill site was clamped by the company on April 23 and the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) was carried out by all the stakeholders.  According to one of the reports of the Environmental Right Action and Friends of the Earth (ERA/FoE), the JIV showed that the spill was caused by equipment failure.

    ERA in the report by its Bayelsa State Project Officer, Mr. Alagoa Morris, said since the JIV was conducted, nothing in terms of clean-up and remediation had been done by officials of NAOC and regulatory agencies such as the Ministry of Environment, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which participated in the visit.

    Short end of the stick 

    “They have not revisited the impacted site or taken any pragmatic steps to follow up and take actions in line with internationally accepted best practices in the oil industry. The scenario is even worse when we take into consideration that we are entering deeper into the rainy season when the rains would facilitate spreading of crude oil slick in surrounding swamps, farms and farmlands.

    “This is another glaring testament indicating the oil industry in Nigeria is yet to measure up to acceptable best practices and, reason why the sailing mutual lack of trust/confidence and seeming hostilities between operators and impacted communities would continue for a long time,” the report said.

    While the communities were still nursing the wounds of the April spills, another spill occurred on June 16th, close to the last spill site. To further degrade the environment, the current spill was said to be raging with fire.

    The acting Paramount Ruler of Okpotuwari, Chief Moses Tiger, confirmed the current oil spill and said the community had already informed Agip about it. He said he sent some youths to check the site and they returned with a report that crude oil was gushing seriously from the pipeline.

    “I was informed by some youths I sent to check that, crude oil was gushing seriously and that it is spreading and impacted the whole surrounding environment. From what I was told, the spill point is very close to the spill site clamped in April this year.

    “Incidentally, I heard the fresh spill site is on fire now and; I can see a thick column of smoke rising from the site. This fire started yesterday evening and, is still on right now [being Wednesday, 17th June, 2015]. Agip should spare us of this environmental destruction by responding promptly to oil spills.

    “The delay in mobilising to spill sites even when the company is duly informed and dragging their feet to clean-up impacted sites is very annoying and, I don’t think this is the best we can get from oil companies.

    “I am still appealing that Agip should come and stop the current spill/fire and clean-up every trace of crude oil from our land, including the immediate past one. The environment is of great importance to us”, he said.

    Also, the Project Officer of a community-based organisation, Ondewari Health Education and Environment Project (OHEEP), Mr. Tontiemotei Yeiyei, said he saw the dark and thick column of smoke rising from across the spill site across the river.

    According to him, “I was guessing it was the spill site that Agip came for clamping in April that has been set ablaze because the position of the rising smoke looked very much like the same place. But, I am also hearing that a fresh spill has just occurred within that same environment.

    “This smoke from spill sites is very unhealthy as we depend on rain water and the river for drinking and even bathing and other domestic/economic activities. Some of us are suspecting that it is a thing like this that has deprived us of mamacoco, that special cocoyam that is almost gone extinct.

    “The government should be more serious with the oil companies and anyone found wanting on this and related subject matters. We are losing a lot in terms of health and livelihood as a result of oil industry related activities around us.”

    Stop the delay

    ERA in the report condemned NAOC for its delays in responding to spill information with regard to clamping and clean-up. It described the action of the company as corporate social irresponsibility and double standard.

    The report said: “If clean-up is yet to commence in a spill impacted site that Agip effected clamping since April, 2015, when would the community consider it auspicious to do so, knowing full well that the rains are here and the situation would be worse as the days go by?

    “This is environmental terrorism; more so as the spill occurred as a direct consequence of equipment failure [the one clamped in April, 2015]. It is not certain whether the current oil spill is also caused by equipment failure; since JIV is yet to be conducted.

    “But whatever the cause of spill NAOC has the responsibility to promptly stop, contain, ensure JIV is done, clamp the ruptured spot and follow up with recovery and clean-up. Issues of relief materials and compensation are later actions.

    “But, every effort has to be made to protect the environment. Yes, because the environment is our life. Any fish, animal or crop from crude oil polluted site poses grave danger to consumers. And, since we all depend of the farmers and fisher folks and we buy from the same markets; everyone is at risk; not just those living in the immediate environment.”

    ERA, therefore, demands that Agip should, without further delay; mobilise to the site of interest and stop the spill and the fire.

    It also called on regulatory agencies such as NOSDRA, environment ministry and DPR to rise up to the occasion and prevail on NAOC to do the proper thing and promptly too.

    It recommended that Agip should be fined for non-disclosure of the spill within 24 hours and failing to take immediate action as stipulated in the NOSDRA Act.

    According to ERA, a JIV should be conducted promptly and cause of spill made public and the community must be given a copy of the signed JIV Report for record purposes.

    “The regulatory agencies, especially the State Ministry of Environment should prevail on NAOC to immediately take steps to clean-up the sites impacted by crude oil from the company’s facility…without further delays.

    “The People of Okpotuwari should continue to monitor their environment effectively and report all such unhealthy happenings to the regulators, NAOC and ERA for needed action in the interest of the environment”, ERA said.

    However, NAOC could not be reached for its reaction to the spill.

  • NIS petitions IG over killing of surveyor in Bayelsa

    The Nigeria Institute of Surveyors (NIS), Bayelsa state chapter, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police( IGP) over the gruesome murder of its member, Mr Kolou Eddi and attempted murder of Mr. Naboth Alaigha by suspected thugs from Okutukutu community.

    NIS said it was fed up with the “negligence and complacency” of the Bayelsa state Police command on the matter.

    On May 21, Eddi and Alazigha went to a disputed land to demarcate boundary between Opolo and Okutukutu communities in line with a Supreme Court judgment in favour of Opolo community.

    But angry youths from Okutukutu community stormed the land, killed Eddi and inflicted serious injuries on Alazigha.

    The police team deployed to escort the surveyors neither stopped the attack nor arrested persons behind the dastardly act.

    Few days after the incident, the police were said to have arrested some suspects and kept telling anxious families of the deceased and the injured Alazigha that they were still conducting investigations.

    Irked by the development, NIS wrote a letter through its lawyers U. Saiyou and co to the IGP demanding his urgent intervention.

    In the letter signed by Amaebi Clarkson, NIS said that 65 armed policemen were mobilized to site for the singular purpose of marking the clear boundaries of the survey plan.

    It lamented that throughout the “ferocious attack” on the duo which lasted for over 20 minutes, the police team “detailed to protect the survey team would not do any significant thing even when they saw messers Kolou Robert Eddi and Naboth Alazigha being hacked down by severe machete cuts from the attackers.

    The NIS said it was bitter that the police could not make any arrest on the spot and days after the incident failed to show seriousness on the matter.

    It expressed disappointment in the conduct of investigations by the Bayelsa State Police command and called on the IGP to take over the case.

    The petition said in part: “Our client have instructed us to inform you that the lukewarm attitude and conduct of the Police that led to the death of their colleague is not acceptable and they are not impressed by the slow pace of investigation of the matter by the Bayelsa State Police command.

    “We are mandated to demand that you urgently take over the investigation of the matter with a view to timeously bring the culprits to book. The timely arrest of the perpetrators of this brutal attack will serve as deterrent and curb the incessant attack on Surveyors on legitimate professional duties”.

    But the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Asinim Butswat who said he was not aware of the petition.

    He explained that a murder case was not what the police would rush investigations.

    He assured all the parties that the command had not abandoned the case, adding that all the persons involved in the circumstances surrounding the incident would be brought to book.