The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NAOC

  • Pirates kill four policemen, abduct six others in Bayelsa

    Pirates kill four policemen, abduct six others in Bayelsa

    Palpable tension has gripped the Bayelsa waterways after pirates at separate incidents killed four policemen and abducted six other persons in Nembe waters, Nembe Local Government Area on Friday.

    It was gathered that the gunmen also seized a gunboat belonging to the Nigeria Police in an incident that occurred at about 1.30pm on the fateful day.

    The gunboat was said to be escorting a barge owned by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) when it came under attack.

    It was gathered that the hoodlums, who operated on a speedboat, laid ambush for the gunboat and opened fire on the policemen.

    They were said to have overpowered the police, killed and pushed them into the water and took control of the gunboat.

    It was learnt that the incident which occurred along Santa Barbara and Nembe waterways caused panic among travelers.

    The development was said to have delayed the movement of persons travelling to Okpoama in Brass Local Government Area, for the funeral of the uncle of a former governor of the state, Tmipre Sylva.

    Most of the guests for the burial were said to have waited at Ogbia jetty till after the gunmen finished their operation.

    A security source who pleaded anonymity said the hoodlums were not interested in the Agip barge and its occupants.

    He, however, said three policemen and the gunboat operator were killed after the gunmen hijacked the boat.

    He identified the boat driver as a civilian, adding that the bodies of the policemen had since been recovered.

    He revealed, “Policemen escorting Agip barge were attacked on Friday. The gunboat and the policemen were all taken away. The policemen were three including the driver of the boat making them four. The barge and its occupants escaped, because the gunboat was the target of the pirates. This incident happened along Santa Barbara and Nembe route at about 1.30pm. The pirates were after the gunboat and the arms.”

    In a separate incident, six persons working for a company identified as Icon Xearex, an oil servicing firm, have been abducted at Oluasiri in Nembe.

    It was gathered that the pirates attacked a boat owned by the company in the early hours of Friday and took the workers away.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in state, Mr. Alex Akhigbe, said he was in Abuja for a program and could not comment on the incident.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Valentine Ntomchukwu, when reached for comment, claimed to be in a meeting.

  • Local Content Board summons NAOC chief over dispute with Arco

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has invited the Managing Director of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Mr. Massimo Insulla, to a meeting on the dispute between it and Arco Petroleum Engineering Company Limited over the maintenance of Obob/Ebocha/Kwale Gas plants.

    The invitation followed NCDMB’s receipt of a letter of complaint dated September 10 from Arco Petroleum on the matter. In the letter, Arco alleged, among other things, that NAOC and General Electric “are ganging up to forcibly remove an established indigenous contractor like Arco that can prove its mettle in the maintenance of such hi-tech equipment exclusively for six months”.

    On the intervention, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Ernest Nwapa, said the Board would continue to ensure that the provisions of the Nigerian Content Act were adhered to in relation to any contract or operation in the oil and gas industry.

  • MEND: we attacked Agip tugboat, abducted engineer, captain

    MEND: we attacked Agip tugboat, abducted engineer, captain

    The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), yesterday claimed that it was responsible for the attack on a tugboat belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

    The group, in a statement by its spokesman, Gbomo Jomo, admitted that its fighters abducted the engineer and the captain of the boat.

    It said the onslaught was carried out by its trainee fighters along the Nembe-Bassanbiri waterway in Bayelsa State.

    MEND said: “This relatively insignificant attack is a reminder of our presence in the creeks of the Niger Delta and a sign of things to come. Contrary to speculations, they were not ‘sea pirates’, but a new group of MEND ‘trainee fighters’.

    “Our silence has been strategic. At the right time, precisely next year, we will reduce the country’s oil production to zero and drive off our land, all thieving oil companies.

    “In this new phase of our struggle for justice, MEND will pay attention to dealing with the occupying Nigerian government forces in the Niger Delta, who stand in our way.”

    Seven gunmen on Saturday attacked a tugboat belonging to Agip and whisked away the engineer and captain.

    “They took them to an unknown place. Nobody knows their whereabouts,” a security source said.

    The source, who pleaded for anonymity, said the incident occurred at an area called Peter’s town in Nembe Local Government Area.

    “The tugboat was coming from Port Harcourt in Rivers State to Brass, maybe to load petroleum products at the terminal. But suddenly, about seven gunmen, waylaid and boarded it”, he said.

    The source said the boat had six crew members at the time it was attacked by the hoodlums.

    He said four were dispossessed of their valuables, while the captain and the engineer were whisked away for a ransom.

     

  • Farmers dazzle at agric feast

    Farmers dazzle at agric feast

    Farmers in the Southsouth have proved their resurgence, posting an impressive harvest, despite of last year’s devastating floods.

    The Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Ltd, which is hosted by communities in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta as well as Imo states, praised the farmers whose commitment paid off with a remarkable yield.

    The growers produced enough foodstuff to showcase at the NAOC-Green River Project (GRP) Farmers’ Day and the launch of the 2013 farming season.

    The Managing Director of NAOC, Mr Ciro Antonio Pagana, who made this commendation in Obie-Obrikom, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State during the 17th edition of the GRP, also promised that his company would continue to impact lives in areas such as multiplication and distribution of planting materials as well as various agricultural services in partnership with non-governmental agencies.

    Represented by the General Manager, Human Resources of NAOC, Engr Namaan Dienye, the MD who listed the key areas the company had assisted farmers in 2012 as well as the activities carried out for the improvement of cultivation materials also said that they had provided extension services and training to 54 cooperative societies and 22 secondary schools across the company’s host communities.

    The NAOC Boss also said that during the period under consideration, the company in partnership with Community Development Foundation disbursed a total of N20.8million to 41 farming cooperative societies, women and youth organizations in its micro credit programme.

    To further ameliorate poverty in its host communities, the company also engaged 548 youths in various skills under its skills acquisition programme.

    While commending the efforts of research institutes in the Southern states of Nigeria, he also lauded the governments of the four states where NAOC operates for being of “tremendous assistance to us and our various extension officers operating in these states.”

    In his welcome address, the General Manager District of NAOC, Mr Giovanni Salvini also praised the farmers “who despite the great challenge of 2012 flood disaster, weathered the storm to still provide the agricultural produce we see today.”

    Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Prof Boma Oruwari, who said he was involved at the inception of the GRP also urged Nigerians to take interest in farming because food is important.

    Oruwari who is also the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt also expressed happiness with the crop of young men who took part in the exhibition of their farm produce noting that “the GRP is getting better and better.”

  • Farmers dazzle at agric feast

    Farmers dazzle at agric feast

    Farmers in the Southsouth have proved their resurgence, posting an impressive harvest, despite of last year’s devastating floods.

    The Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Ltd, which is hosted by communities in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta as well as Imo states, praised the farmers whose commitment paid off with a remarkable yield.

    The growers produced enough foodstuff to showcase at the NAOC-Green River Project (GRP) Farmers’ Day and the launch of the 2013 farming season.

    The Managing Director of NAOC, Mr Ciro Antonio Pagana, who made this commendation in Obie-Obrikom, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State during the 17th edition of the GRP, also promised that his company would continue to impact lives in areas such as multiplication and distribution of planting materials as well as various agricultural services in partnership with non-governmental agencies.

    Represented by the General Manager, Human Resources of NAOC, Engr Namaan Dienye, the MD who listed the key areas the company had assisted farmers in 2012 as well as the activities carried out for the improvement of cultivation materials also said that they had provided extension services and training to 54 cooperative societies and 22 secondary schools across the company’s host communities.

    The NAOC Boss also said that during the period under consideration, the company in partnership with Community Development Foundation disbursed a total of N20.8million to 41 farming cooperative societies, women and youth organizations in its micro credit programme.

    To further ameliorate poverty in its host communities, the company also engaged 548 youths in various skills under its skills acquisition programme.

    While commending the efforts of research institutes in the Southern states of Nigeria, he also lauded the governments of the four states where NAOC operates for being of “tremendous assistance to us and our various extension officers operating in these states.”

    In his welcome address, the General Manager District of NAOC, Mr Giovanni Salvini also praised the farmers “who despite the great challenge of 2012 flood disaster, weathered the storm to still provide the agricultural produce we see today.”

    Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Prof Boma Oruwari, who said he was involved at the inception of the GRP also urged Nigerians to take interest in farming because food is important.

    Oruwari who is also the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt also expressed happiness with the crop of young men who took part in the exhibition of their farm produce noting that “the GRP is getting better and better.”