Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Bayelsa State Governor, Sen. Douye Diri, says the State was forced to take legal action against Aiteo over OML29 spill incident, because industry regulators were colluding with the oil firm to deal treacherously with the host communities.
Governor Diri explained that the month-long oil and gas spills in Nembe Local Government Area, from a facility operated by Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited, resulted in litigation due to the manner the company and the regulatory bodies treated the impacted communities.
The Governor speaking when the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa, regretted that part of the security challenges in host communities were as a result of the injustice and unfair treatment by the oil companies aided by the regulators.
He added that his prompt intervention in the matter prevented another flashpoint of conflict between the host communities, Aiteo and, by extension, the security agencies.
“For us as a government, from the moment we assumed office, we have always preached peace and security and looking for constitutional, legal and legitimate ways of addressing the injustices over the years in our state.
“A case in point was the Aiteo oil spill. That facility was said to be unproductive yet was not decommissioned and it spewed oil for over a month, which was the first of its kind in the history of oil exploration in this country.
“At the end of the day, a potential source of conflict was during the joint inspection visit, which has caused a rift between the state government, Aiteo and, to an extent, the supervisors from the oil and gas sector.
“However, because of our disposition, we have been able to calm down our communities. Now it is the state government with the local government on one side, and of course Aiteo and the supervising oil and gas bodies on the other side, which I feel should not be if we do what is right, and if there is equity and fairness.
“For the fact that the environment has been affected as well as the source of livelihood of the people, it is very human for the oil companies to have immediately responded by way of compensation.
“Unfortunately, what we have seen is that there is some collaboration and collusion with Aiteo and the regulatory agencies and we were forced to take legal action against Aiteo.”
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