The House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities has assured that the communities affected by oil spillage and explosion in Awoye, in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo would be compensated and ensure environmental justice for the people of the area.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities, Dumnamene Dekor, gave the assurance in Awoye, Ondo state, against the background of recent of oil spillage in the area.
Dekor said the three man committee visited the state for an on-the-spot assessment of the affected areas and to have interactions with the people on the level of damage to the communities.
He said the team had come from Abuja to get facts and interact with the people living in the area, making moves on how the company responsible for the disaster can be liable to remediate, clean up and compensate the victims.
The Committee Chairman noted that the National Assembly, through the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), has been able to proffer solutions to the menace.
“From our interaction with the people we found out that the people have given us their own opinion, we have seen for ourselves and by the grace of God we will come up with our findings with the view of addressing these problems both for the people and the operators so that there will be a lasting solution,” he said.
He urged all the operating companies to take environmental issues more seriously, lamenting that the impacts of such degradation through exploration have always left the host communities poorer and more deplorable.
The Committee Chairman, however, stated that they couldn’t decide on the matter until they submit their report to the National Assembly leadership which will find lasting solution to the menace.
“There are modes of operations, it shouldn’t be that they would come and extract and go away. It should be that they must have a relationship with the people. I believe with the PIA, a lot more innovations and remediation will come,” he said.
While speaking on ordeal of the people of the communities, the Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, lamented that lands, waters and other sources of livelihood of the people of the area have been utterly destroyed by the oil exploration.
Oba Akinruntan maintained the people of the Niger Delta, which is the hen that lays the golden egg for the nation, are suffering, stressing that it was high time the Federal Government prioritises the welfare of the people
He lauded the committees’ members and Ondo State Government for the proactive steps taken to redress the injustice done to the people and oil producing communities at large.
It will be recalled that an oil vessel belonging to Shebah Oil Company exploded on February 2, 2022 killing over 10 people onboard and the people of the area wrote a petition to the Federal Government for remediation, clean-up and compensation.
They bemoaned that the oil spillage in the area has polluted their waters and killed fishes in the rivers, which is their major occupation, adding that they also ferry the ocean for as far as 25km to get potable water to drink.
The residents of the areas accused the four oil companies operating in the area, namely: Shebah, Ecress, Nanecondi and Atlas, of gross violation of the PIA and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the communities.
However, the Lower Chamber instituted a panel of enquiry comprising members from the House Committees on Host Communities, Petroleum Upstream and Petroleum Downstream to investigate petitions by the communities against the oil companies.
Also, the state government delegation from the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health led by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Banji Ajaka, joined the visiting lawmaker on the tour.
