By Chimaobi Nwaiwu
NNEWI — Oil-producing communities in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State have decried years of alleged neglect and lack of basic infrastructure, demanding that the state government and Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) fulfil their obligations to the host communities.
The communities, particularly Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele, also called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to immediately make the Anambra State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Development Commission (ANSOPADEC) fully operational to ensure proper representation and development of oil-producing areas.
The communities made the demands during a joint media briefing attended by traditional and community leaders, who lamented that despite oil exploration activities in the area, residents continued to grapple with poor roads, lack of electricity, potable water, healthcare facilities and schools.
They said the roads linking Atani with Ogwuaniocha, Ogwuikpele and Umunankwo through Mputu were largely impassable, describing some sections as death traps.
According to them, the situation becomes worse during the rainy season, particularly on the road leading to Ossomala, where flooding often forces residents to depend on boats to access neighbouring communities.
The leaders said the presence of crude oil had not translated into meaningful development, but had instead brought environmental concerns, disruption to agriculture and aquatic life, as well as growing frustration among residents.
The traditional ruler of Ogwuikpele, Odua Ukwu Ogwuikpele, Anagboso Anselm Bernard Ignatius Okaka, said the community initially welcomed SEEPCO with the expectation that oil exploration would bring development.
He, however, said those expectations had not been met.
“When the oil exploration company SEEPCO came into our community, we thought good things had come to stay. We never knew we were going to face the worst of it all. The life we were living before was far better than what we are experiencing today,” he said.
The monarch also alleged that oil exploration activities had contributed to deaths and environmental degradation in the area.
“The oil they are drilling has caused deaths among our people. The death toll in the month of August increased to seven. Here, they get the oil, but we have not seen any sign of the 13 per cent derivation meant for us. We are living as if we are inside holes,” he alleged.
Okaka appealed to the Federal and Anambra State governments to provide roads, potable water, electricity, healthcare facilities and schools in the affected communities.
“We do not have good roads, pipe-borne water, electricity, a hospital or a good school. The school our children are managing is owned by the Church. We are living in darkness,” he said.
He said the youths were increasingly frustrated by the situation but that community elders had continued to encourage them to pursue dialogue rather than confrontation.
Also speaking, the President-General of Ogwuikpele, Hon. Esumai Patrick Chukwudi, accused SEEPCO of failing to provide meaningful development despite years of oil exploration in the community.
He alleged that there was no adequate mechanism for determining the volume of crude oil being transported from the community.
“They are short-changing us, the local government and the state government. There is nothing to showcase in Ogwuikpele. There is no metering system to determine the actual volume of oil leaving our community,” Chukwudi alleged.
He said crude oil was transported from Ogwuikpele to Delta State through horizontal directional drilling and trucking operations, while the community lacked electricity, potable water, jobs and basic educational facilities.
Chukwudi called on Governor Soludo to facilitate dialogue between SEEPCO and the host communities, saying the communities had remained peaceful despite their grievances.
“We are not asking for too much. There is gas flaring; why not convert it to electricity? Our people are not violent. We have been dialoguing, but we are not happy that we are being ignored because of our peaceful approach,” he said.
The President-General of Ogwuaniocha, Hon. Vitalis Ekwuanua, said his community had witnessed little meaningful development since SEEPCO began operations in the area in 2016.
He said oil exploration had affected agriculture, aquatic life and the environment, while residents continued to lack basic infrastructure.
“We have oil in our communities, yet we are suffering the effects of oil exploration. Our aquatic life, agricultural production and environment have all been affected,” Ekwuanua said.
He urged Governor Soludo to fully operationalise ANSOPADEC by constituting its board and other structures required to monitor oil-producing communities and ensure their interests were represented.
Ekwuanua also demanded meaningful representation for host communities in the commission, including consideration of community indigenes for leadership positions.
The Women Leader of Ogwuikpele, Mrs Gladys Chukwudobi Nzeani, said the poor state of infrastructure had particularly affected pregnant women and residents requiring emergency medical attention.
“When a woman is pregnant and wants to deliver, we find it difficult to transport her to neighbouring communities because there is no road, no good hospital and no electricity,” she said.
Nzeani said residents sometimes paid about N10,000 for a return boat trip between Ogwuikpele and Ossomala, adding that erosion had also damaged parts of the community market while the health centre lacked adequate equipment and drugs.
The President-General of Ogwuaniocha Women, Lady Apollonia Ezenwa, said poor roads had made it difficult for farmers, particularly women, to transport their produce to markets.
She also accused SEEPCO of failing to make what she described as meaningful contributions to the host community and called for greater government oversight of its activities.
Chairman of the Ogbaru Oil and Gas Technical Committee (OOGTC), Engr. Anthony Egwuatu, said Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele, alongside the committee, were demanding meaningful representation in ANSOPADEC.
He said the communities were seeking stronger participation in institutions and decisions concerning their resources and development.
According to Egwuatu, the communities were not demanding more than the fulfilment of SEEPCO’s commitments and the provision of public services and institutional support by government.
Also speaking, the Subcommittee Chairman of ANSOPADEC, Hon. Chief Tony Okwesa, said the real measure of progress in Ogwuaniocha and Ogwuikpele should be tangible development and transparent records rather than government promises or institutional announcements.
The communities consequently called for urgent action by the Federal and state governments to address their infrastructure and environmental concerns and ensure that oil-producing communities benefit meaningfully from the resources extracted from their areas.
The post Oil communities demand share of Anambra’s oil wealth appeared first on Vanguard News.