Koluama community in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State Friday closed the Ango 2 Oilfield operated by the Conoil Producing Nigeria Limited for its alleged failure to implement a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the company signed with them.
The embattled protesters comprising elders, men, women and youths, stormed the oil facility carrying placards with different inscriptions like, “No MoU, No Crude Oil Exploration”; “ConOil Pack And Go, We Are Tired Of Suffering”; and “Koluama People Are Suffering”.
The chairman of Koluama Oil and Gas Committee, Jonathan Amabebe, said they were fed up with Conoil and that it should stop operations in their environment.
According to him, the oil company reportedly failed to implement the agreement which contained social obligations to be carried out for the host communities.
He states their demands as clean-up of oil-spill impacted sites around the various communities and medical outreach to solve health challenges of the people.
He said other demands include issuance of employment letter to a qualified member of the community, who was successful in Conoil’s recruitment exercise in 2015, and award of contract across the five host communities of Koluama clan namely, Tamazo, Koluama 1, Koluama 2, Olobia and Kalaweiama as captured in the MoU.
Speaking, Technical Assistant to the Bayelsa State Government’s Special Adviser on Oil and Gas, Tare Ekubo, blamed Conoil for the action of the community,adding that the indigenous oil company allegedly refused to implement the MoU and decisions reached at meetings despite warnings from the community, interventions by government, and letters sent to it to prevent any breach and break down of relationship.
He promised that the government would engage the oil firm and the aggrieved people of Koluama with a view to resolving the problems.
