Oil-producing communities lay claims to N98b

THE Imo State wing of the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSTCOM) has decried the non-implementation of their agreement with the Federal Government on gas flaring.

Chairman, Imo HOSTCOM, Jenarius Ezeru, who spoke with The Guardian yesterday in Umuahia, Abia State capital, said the non-implementation of the pact by the Federal Government was a breach of the 1958 Associated Gas Rejection Act that also imposed a fine on oil companies whose operations entailed gas-flaring in the region.

Ezeru expressed regrets that no dividend had accrued to the communities from their appeals and written representation to the Federal Government and the report of a panel set up by the Presidency to look into the unresolved compensation issue, which was submitted three months ago.

He urged the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dieziani Alison-Madueke, to deliver the committee’s report without further delay to the Presidency to facilitate the payment of N98 billion to the host communities as recommended under the first phase of payment schedule to cushion the effect of gas-flaring on the economic, social and health of the Niger Delta people.

Ezeru said: “I don’t know why they are sitting on the report of this committee, whose membership comprised host communities of the nine Niger Delta states, representatives of the Petroleum Resources Ministry, Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria. The committee had concluded its assignment and sent the report to the petroleum minister for onward delivery to Mr. President.

“One can easily see and feel the effect of gas-flaring on the oil communities in Bayelsa, Rivers and most recently in Ohaji, Ohaji Egbema Local Council of Imo State where the whole community was forced to flee their homeland”.

 “We want peace in our region, hence we are using dialogue instead of violence to accomplish our age-long struggle for development and welfare of the people of the region”.

According to him, “we are asking for direct empowerment through the host communities producing oil and gas. The money that should be paid by the oil companies to the host communities was rather paid into the Federal Government account. We demand that this money be paid to the host communities, so that we can empower our people.

“In 2005, over 150,000 youths applied for jobs through the NNPC and till date, no positive result has been heard on the issue. We the host communities are not happy with this scenario”.