WARRI — IJAW of Odimodi in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, yesterday, threatened to engage the Ogulagha Community in an inter-ethnic conflict, if the ploy to remove them from the issues of inspection visits and damages done by Agip Oil Company spillages in the area were not reviewed and their community included.
According to the leaders of Odimodi community, the Ogulagha community in alleged collusion with some persons and the oil company have allegedly shut out their community from the Joint Inspection Visit (JIV) to the area destroyed by spillage and thereby dumped the peace accord brokered between them in 2002 by the Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Clark.
In an open letter to the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Chief Benjamin Elue made available to Vanguard, the Chairman and Secretary of Odimodi community, Capt. Jonathan Egbele and Andrew Isama respectively, warned that failure to redress the anomaly done them would result to another crisis and killings in the area.
According to them, “we are constrained to draw to your attention the issue in order to nip in the bud what shall soon metamorphose into another ethnic bloodbath between Ogulagha and Odimodi communities. Both communities are only smarting from a recent war, April 2001 to April 2002, and a repeat of such war shall overheat the state that is already popular for ethnic bloodletting.
“On June 8 and July 12 2004, we noticed two separate spillages at Agip’s Beniboye flow line, same was reported to the Commissioner of Environment through our attempt to tackle Agip not only on the spillages but on serial oil spillages in recent times. Based on this report, the Commissioner ordered that a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) be conducted by Agip to ascertain the causes with particular reference to our complaint that it is criminal for Agip to have burnt the entire Odimodi treasured bush of about 50 acres in the name of a belated clean up done eight months after.”
They alleged that at the stipulated day for the Joint Inspection Visit to the two communities, the Odimodi people were sidelined by Agip’s Community Relations Officer(CRO) and held the meeting and consultation with the Ogulagha people.
“Agip”, they alleged, “in its usual character of divide and rule, through this same ill -mannered CRO, said based on Agip’s corporate policy and available records, Odimodi Community shall for the purpose of the JIV be excluded as the Odimodi people are not land owners at the point of oil spill which is Okuntil in Ogulagha community.
"This was deliberately contrived by Agip and the Ogulagha people and it is a patent falsehood to shut out the Odimodi community from the Joint Inspection Visit as the spill point is not Okuntu, but along the 48” SBM–1 (export line) Right of Way (Row) some eight (8) Kelometres from Okuntu.”
They noted that all attempts by their community to put the records straight on the actual point of spill failed. “We however discovered that there has been a build-up of armed Ogulagha youths at the Agip Beniboye flow line Bridge near Odimodi. They were battle ready and the atmosphere was quite charged. It became clear that youths from both communities are ready to engage themselves. But now, as the forced JIV is on, we do not know what shall happen because our youths are getting ready to challenge and assert their right.”
