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Tag: Delta communities

  • Warring Delta communities debunk govt claims of resolving land dispute

    Warring Delta communities debunk govt claims of resolving land dispute

    Contrary to claims by the Delta state government that it has resolved the age long land dispute between Aladja and Ogbe-Ijoh communities, a group, Aladja People’s Movement for Peace, yesterday, debunked the claims by the state government.

    It threatened to seek legal redress in its bid to secure Aladja communal lands.

    The group warned that the land dispute between Aladja and Ogbe-Ijoh Communities in Udu and Warri South-West Local Government Areas in Delta State has not been resolved.

    It vowed that the “forceful acquisition” of Aladja community land by the Governor Sheriff Oborevwori-led administration will not stand.

    The groups’ coordinators, Mr Simon Sibitor and Mr Ejovwo Tietie who spoke with reporters, yesterday in Warri, expressed shock over claims by the government that the dispute has been resolved.

    Sitibor warned, “it (Oborevwori administration) has only played into the hands of the Ijaw nation through the Aladja/Ogbe-Ijoh crisis.”

    He maintained the disputed land belongs to the Aladja community, saying the government must be ready to kill all Aladja indigenes to forcefully acquire its land.

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    His words, “The land in dispute belongs to Aladja and if the government wants to acquire the land by force, the government must be ready to kill everybody.”

    Recall that Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Kingsley Emu had announced, Thursday, that the boundary dispute between both communities had been resolved.

    According to the group, “The Government by that pronouncement by Dr. Kingsley Emu is invariably giving to the Ogbe-Ijoh people and by extension the Ijaw nation what they could not forcefully take from Aladja through the barrel of the gun.”

    The group wondered why the Delta State Government decided to use the minority report of the panel of enquiry instead of the majority report adopted by the immediate past government.

    His words, “But representatives of Aladja Community were shocked to see that there was already a prepared resolution by Emu for the people of both communities to sign using the minority report of Ogbe-Ijoh in the Professor Abednego Ekoku Panel Report instead of the Majority report that was adopted by the then Government of Okowa.”

    It claimed the administration of ex-Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan and Arthur Okowa rejected the demands of the Ijaws on acquiring the land from Aladja people by force.

    “These two governors must have seen that the land does not belong to Ogbe-Ijoh hence, they did not accede to the demands of the Ijaws.

    “But surprisingly, the government of Sheriff Oborevwori which has not deemed it fit to visit the area in dispute has acceded to those dangerous demands by the Ijaws to acquire the land.”

  • ‘Ritual killers’ invade Delta communities

    Suspected ritual killers have invaded communities in Delta State.

    Yesterday, the body of a child believed to be about two-year-old was found in Abraka.

    The incident occurred less than 24 hours after a similar murder was carried out in Oghara.

    In the Abraka incident, the suspected ritualists dumped the remains of the child at Umono Street, with his diaper stained with blood.

    Police confirmation could be obtained last night.

    Commissioner Alhaji Muhammed Mustafa said he was yet to be briefed.

    Policemen have evacuated the remains of the child to the mortuary.

  • Delta communities get transformers after years in darkness

    Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta Chairman Mr Tega Onoyake, has provided Ugborikoko and Urhumarho communities with 500KVA transformer each.

    Inaugurating the projects yesterday in Effurun, Onoyake said they would help to galvanise economic development in the communities that had been in without light for two years.

    The chairman said the initiative was part of his campaign promises.

    “Recall that I came with the mind-sets of restoring the lost glory of Uvwie and heralding a new dawn in the local government area. I am happy that by the grace of the Almighty God, barely seven months in government, we have accomplished this great feat. With the installation of the transformer, life has been restored and businesses will begin to boom again. The inauguration commissioning has also given me the opportunity to reaffirm my commitment to pursuing my restoration agenda,” he said.

    Onoyake urged the communities to ensure proper maintenance of the transformers and promised to provide more dividends of democracy to the people.

    He also promised to ensure security of lives and property in his area.

     

     

     

  • 2 Delta communities in a row over oil lease

    Two communities, Ukpiovwin and Oghior  in Udu Local Government of Delta State, are in a showdown over ownership of the right-of-way of an Oil Mining Lease (OML).

    The communities are holding on to ownership of the land where spill and fire occurred at the Abura Flowline OML 65, operated by the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

    Addressing reporters yesterday at Ukpiovwin Town Hall, President-General Mr. Lucky Ejenavwo said the briefing followed the November 29 publication in a national newspaper by the Oghior community.

    He said the community claimed ownership of the land.

    Ejenavwo said the land belonged to Ukpiovwin.

    He said the Abura Flowline OML 65 traversed seven communities, including Emadadja, Ubogo, Ogbe-Udu, Ogolor-waterside and Ogolor-inland.

    Ejenavwo, a surveillance contractor, said when the spill occurred on the Abura Flowline, he told NPDC officials.

    “Following my report, NPDC, on October 27, sent a team for the JIV text. It was concluded on November 25.

    “On November 27, within 800 and 900 hours, my youth leader, Mr. Adile James, phoned me that there was fire at the Abura Flowline where the spill occurred.

    “I immediately texted the manager, Security Department, NPDC and Warri Field Office (WFO) to send fire fighters to the scene.

    “We make bold to say that the land where the spill and inferno occurred at Abura Flowline OML 65 belongs to Ukpiovwin community and not Oghior as claimed,” he said.

    Ejenavwo said the publication was frivolous, baseless and an attempt to cause disaffection between the communities.

    He appealed to the Ukpiovwin community to be calm, urging people to disregard the publication.

  • Women protest blackout in Delta communities

    Women protest blackout in Delta communities

    Over 2,000 elderly women from Ekrerhavwe and Ekakpamre communities in Ughelli North and Ughelli South local government areas of Delta State yesterday protested constant blackout in their communities.

    The women, who were mostly between 40s and 80s, protested at a power station at Ughelli.

    They described the company’s action as a breach of agreement with its customers.

    The protesters prevented the company’s workers, who just completed their night shift, from leaving the premises; those resuming for the morning shift could not get to their offices.

    The elderly women blocked one of the lanes on the East-West Road, causing a traffic snarl in the area.

    The protesters converged on the company’s premises by 5 am, chanting war songs and wielding placards with various inscriptions.

    Some read: “Mrs Funke Osibodu, we must not do the Christmas in darkness”; “Tunde Olakpenun, give us our light” and “Host communities need constant light.”

    The women’s leaders for Ekakpamre and Ekrerhavwe communities, Mrs. Kokor Kikiri and Mrs Dorcas Akinone, accused the president-generals of both communities of compromise.

    They said this was the reason the company short-changed the communities.

    According to them, prior to the acquisition of the electricity company, the communities enjoyed free power supply because of an agreement with the government and the communities, who are the land owners.

    Mrs Kikiri said: “Now, they are saying we should pay for electricity, despite the fact that we did not sell our land to them, thereby reneging on their agreement with the host communities.”

    The women stood their ground, despite the presence of the Commanding Officer of 222 Battalion, Agbarha-Otor, Lt.-Col. Matthew Oyekola, who urged them to move away from the road to ease traffic.

    Attempts to speak with the management of the company were fruitless, but a senior worker, identified simply as Francis, said the company would soon resolve the matter with the protesting communities.

     

     

  • Nine kids ,hospitalised in Delta communities’ kerosene explosions

    Nine children have been taken to Warri Central Hospital to treat the severe burns they got in the explosions caused by suspected adulterated kerosene in Warri South and Udu local government areas of Delta State.

    The victims were said to have suffered between 50 to 90 degrees of burns.

    Some of the parents of the affected children told reporters in Warri that the incidents occurred on August 15 and 16 when the children attempted to fuel lit lanterns.

    Two of the victims’ father, Johnson Obethe, said his son and daughter, both of primary school ages, were pouring kerosene into a lantern at 10pm on Sunday when it exploded and burnt them.

    The case of 10-year-old Elozino Akwirorogbe and her brother of Merogun Street, Warri, was similar to the Obethes.

    Their mother said the children were also filling their lantern with kerosene when the explosion occurred.

    Elozino’s case was described as the most severe because the fire affected almost all parts of her body, including the face.

    Explosions from suspected adulterated kerosene were said to have also occurred in Aladja, Udu Local Government Area.

    Some patients at the Warri Central Hospital were said to have been brought from Aladja, following similar explosions in the area.

    A toddler of less than two years was being treated at the hospital for the burns she got on Saturday from an explosion from a firewood stove after her grandmother poured the fuel on the woods.

    Executive Chairman of Warri South Local Government Area, Mofe Edema, who visited the victims at the hospital in company of other council officials, called for an investigation into the incident.

    Edema urged parents and guardians to enlighten their children and wards against fuelling already lit appliances.

    The council chief promised to render financial aides, ranging between N20,000 to N30,000, to parents of the victims.

    He also promised to relate their ordeal to the state government.

    Eight children suffered severe burns in adulterated kerosene explosions in Warri, Warri South Local Government Area and Udu, Udu Local Government Area.

    The children who are lying critically ill at the Central Hospital, Warri, suffered between 50 and 90 per cent burns.

    Officials of Warri South Local Government Area, who visited them in the hospital, urged the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to investigate the sources of the killer product.

    They urged the DPR to also stop further circulation of the adulterated fuel.

    The police said they were ready to assist in the investigation.

     

     

  • Tension in Delta communities over $16b gas project

    President Goodluck Jonathan is expected in Delta State tomorrow for the ground breaking of the $16 billion Ogidigben Gas Plant and Export Processing Zone in Ugborodo, Warri South West Local Government Area.

     The President will also lay the foundation for a federal maritime institute in Okerenkoko, Gbaramatu Kingdom.

    The community’s regent, Elder P.T Heavens and committee chairman, Godspower Gbenekama, have urged indigenes to show up for the event.

    They said: “This is the first time a president will visit the area after over 50 years of oil production.

    “We are very excited about the projects, especially the university, and we are determined to do everything possible to ensure successful take-off of the project.”

    It was gathered that Jonathan’s visit to the area has heightened tension among stakeholders and hosts of the EPZ facility.

    The project had created tension among the various contending groups to the leadership of Ugborodo community.

    It had also generated controversy between Ijaw and Itsekiri indigenes over ownership of the land earmarked for the project.

    President of Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) Bello Oboko told our reporter yesterday that there was tension over ownership of at least one section of the land.

    He said: “Work has long begun on the EPZ gas project site at Ogidigben  amid complaints in several Ijaw quarters that they were not carried along.

    He appealed to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to identify communities with genuine claims and carry them along to avoid crisis.

    Oboko cautioned that if oil investments were not to suffer destructions, it was necessary to avoid the mistakes of the past.