Residents of Kantu and Odidi oil-producing communities in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest at Odidi Flow Station in condemnation of “frequent pipeline leaks leading to continuous destruction and degradation of the environment and the means of livelihood of the residents.”
The protesters gave the management of NEPL/NECONDE a seven-day ultimatum to start implementing the Petroleum Industry Act properly and pay the 3% of 2022 Operating Expenses required by the PIA with immediate effect.
They threatened to shut down operational activities in the entire OML42 in Delta State if their demands were not met.
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According to the protesters, the leaking Trans Forcados Pipeline which was constructed in the early 1960s “has outlived its life span long ago, leading to continuous pollution of our environment and destruction of our ecosystem, creating hardship for the locals.”
They urged President Muhammadu Buhari to order those concerned to commence full replacement of the said pipeline instead of the sectional repair works being planned without recourse to its negative implications on communities and the environment.
Responding, the Site Superintendent of NECONDE, Ekene Onyenekwe, and the NPDC representative at the flow station, Ayodeji Ayinde, commended the host communities for their peaceful conduct and promised to take their grievances “to the appropriate quarters, and follow it up.”
Story was adapted from Punch
