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Siege to Oil Terminal: Youths Feared Killed in Clash With Soldiers

Daily Champion (Lagos)
NEWS
December 10, 2004
Posted to the web December 10, 2004

By Francis Awowole-Brown and Segun James
Lagos/Warri
AN unspecified number of persons were feared killed yesterday when Ugborodo
youths clashed with soldiers of Operation Restore Hope, the task force on the
Niger Delta, at the Escravos tank farm and oil terminal.
The farm and terminal are owned by oil multinational, Chevron Texaco.
But, senior oil workers union, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff
Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have predicted that crisis would continue in
the Niger Delta and disrupt the planned privatisation of the refineries until
the Federal Government assured of the relevant political will to resolve the
problem.
The deployment of the men of Operation Restore Hope under the command of Brig.
Gen. Elias Zamani was to restore law and order at the terminal after the youths
of Ugborodo, an Itsekiri community whose land houses the terminal, invaded the
facility.
This followed a breakdown of negotiations between the community and Chevron
Texaco over a number of issues, according to one account.
Daily Champion gathered that following the crisis that rocked Warri area in
2002 and 2003, Chevron, Texaco allegedly went into some agreements with the
people of the community so that the company's ensure hitch free operations.
Sources alleged that the company later backed down on the agreements which were
contained in a purported Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the
people as the peculiar situation which led to the signing of the deal was over
a development resorted to by the community.
According to Mr. Victor Omunu, a member of the Ugborodo interim executive
committee, the group, which manages the affairs of the community, part of the
agreement that Chevron Texaco allegedly refused to honour was the sacking of
the 40 community liaison officers employed by the company.
He further alleged that Chevron Texaco stopped work on the Ugborodo New Town
Project which had been on for 11 years.
Apparently fed up with the situation, Ugborodo youths invaded and occupied tank
farm in the early hours of yesterday following which soldiers and a gunboat
were despatched to dislodge them.
Contacted yesterday, Gen. Zamani confirmed that the youths invaded the
terminal.
He said his men were at the time of our enquiry, patrolling the terminal
premises.
Zamani said enquiries for any other information about what lead to the face-off
should be directed to the company, adding that the report he had were those
sent by the commander of the team deployed to the terminal.
Several calls put through to Mr. Wole Agunbiade, External Relations Manager,
Chevron Texaco, ended in his voice mail.
PENGASSAN said in a statement in Lagos that until government musters enough
political will to resolve the restiveness in the Niger Delta, clashes between
host communities and oil companies would remain regular occurrences.
The association, in the statement signed by its general secretary, Dr. Mojibayo
Fadakinte, also highlighted incessant damage to oil facilities which affect
crude supplies to the refineries and the perceived helplessness of government
to deal decisively with the situation.
PENGASSAN, which absolved Labour of allegations by government of being the
obstacles towards effective privatisation of the refineries, said "we have
often asked that if government that has all the military might finds it
difficult to deal with line breakages, hostage-taking, piracy, flow station
vandalization, seizure of barges and tug boats, how do we expect private
individuals to take over the refineries and be able to handle these problems?"
The union said what Labour had done was to ask government to follow due process
in disposing of the refineries and not sell them as scrap as being proposed by
the World Bank.
Dr. Fadakinte recalled that a technical committee earlier set up by government
with PENGASSAN as a member, had recommended steps to be taken for successful
privatisation of refineries to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
"But up till now, the recommendations have not been considered. Where then is
our fault?" he queried.
He condemned the resort of the youths to hostage-taking at the slightest
disagreement with oil companies and called on government to as a matter of
urgency, attend to the problems of the people of the region.
PENGASSAN, which made specific reference to the seizure of four oil flow
stations in the area on December 5 and the holding of 75 oil workers hostage,
urged government to set up machinery to secure the unconditional release of the
affected employees.
"We are becoming increasingly worried over this dastardly act, which we
consider as condemnable and unnecessary violence on innocent workers" the
association stated.
It asked for improvement in local content participation and increased
indigenization of operations in the oil and gas sector of the economy as a
potent way of addressing the problems.
"We shall not stop raising alarm on the Niger Delta crisis because most often
oil workers are usually the first victims. And this is why we owe it as a
responsibility to continue to put pressures on government because we know
government has what it takes to solve the problem," PENGASSAN noted.

   

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