Nembe Community Gives AITEO Quit Notice
3 min read
by Pearl Harold
The leadership of Opu Nembe Community in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has given AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production, operator of Oil Minning Lease (OML) 29, a quit notice over alleged negligence on the kingdom in its operations.
The declaration was made at a press conference held on November 14, 2020 at community’s town in Nembe.
A statement signed by the Chairman of the Nembe Council of Chiefs, Chief Oriaingo Ekpeleyai and Secretary, Chief Fikoru, stated that the quit notice takes effect from November 14, 2020.
According to the leaders, community had been subjected to hardship for five years since Shell Petroleum Development Company secretly sold OML 29 to AITEO.
“The chiefs, Elders Women, Youths and all the people of Opu Nembe are tired of AITEO punishment. AITEO and whoever its officials and private collaborators may be are practically killing its host communities, particularly, Opu Nembe”, the leaders said.
According to the leaders, they have applied civilized methods to seek redress through instituting law suit and approaching the regulatory agencies, but all have proved unsuccessful.
The statement further said, as a result of the unbearable condition the community is subjected to, the youths and women have embarked on a peaceful protest and occupied the Santa Barbara Flow Station and Odeama Field Station from the November 11, 2020.
The chiefs declared, “Frustrated and exasperated, we the community leadership in solidarity with our protesting people have to address this press conference, to issue this quit notice to AITEO and their fraudulent contractors, so they can stop trespassing on our territory and leave promptly.”
Some of the contentious issues, according to the community leaders are; the use of fraudulent companies or fronts of top officials to award contracts to themselves, employment of few number of people from the community, failure to pay for services rendered to the company by members of the community and massive environmental pollution as a result of negligence by the company.
The community leaders, who declared AITEO as trespassers and persona non grata in Opu Nembe kingdom, said that any purported renewal of the lease after 30th of June, 2019 is invalid and therefore the community would no longer have any dealings with the company.
They also said “The operational lease of OML 29 by AITEO having expired on the 30th of June, 2019, notwithstanding, the illegal secretive renewal by the then Minister, Ibe Kachikwu, we call for its immediate relinquishment to Government, followed by transparent competitive bidding for its re-award , to ensure transparency, favourable fiscal terms to Government and host communities, untainted funding source, and superior operational capacity.
“That Government and other watchdogs, local and International, should thoroughly investigate allegations that AITEO is engaging in national economic sabotage and undermining Nigeria’s interest, as well as dealing a fatal blow on local economies of its host communities, by hollowing out proceeds of OML 29 to fund massive acquisitions in the mining sector in other African countries like Congo, Zimbabwe and Ghana”
The leaders stated, “New operators would have to renegotiate lease terms for community land required for operations, and terms for community content, environmental sustainability and social responsibility”
