Petroleum Industry Act is anti-people, say Niger Delta stakeholders

Stakeholders under the Niger Delta Alternative Convergence (NDAC) have insisted that the Petroleum Industrial Act (PIA) is anti-people as it was aimed to criminalise Niger Delta indigenes.

The Chairman of NDAC, His Royal Majesty King Bubaraye Dakolo, the Ebenanaiwe of Ekpetiama Kingdom, Agada IV stated that the PIA which took 20-years to cook was miscooked into beautiful nonsense that was passed into law in 2021.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja at the third Convergence of the NDAC stakeholders comprising of Health of the Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) oil Producing communities among others, King Dakolo said by making them responsible for oil bunkering activities in the region means that the Act has criminalised everyone in the region including himself.

He said “what the Joint Task Force or trained military experts could not stop, why should indigenes be held responsible for it? Someone like me who did not bring out the hydrocarbon from the ground, who did not put a pipeline there, should be held responsible if there is stoppage of work, if there is abduction of any worker around my kingdom…

“When really somebody can come from as far away as Ghana to come and take somebody away and nobody will know. Because the truth is with fast boats from in front of my community, you can get to even Miami if you have an unsinkable small boat. That is how porous the system is,” he stated.

The traditional ruler further lamented that their homes have been polluted and sources of livelihood completely removed, decrying that oil companies have stolen a whopping $1 trillion out of the $3 trillion that was supposed to go to the oil producing communities.

The Director General of HOMEF, Nninmo Bassey also lamented that the government has not been paying adequate attention to the environment as it is only during World Environment Day that they make some statements.

He mentioned that the NDAC has been calling for the need for clear policy by the government on the divestments by oil producing companies, alleging that it seems government is happy to endorse the divestment.

He said “what we are saying is that when local companies buy up this pollution that has been created by international oil companies, who is going to clean up the place? Who’s going to restore the place? Who’s going to pay compensation for the damages piled up since 1956? One of the things we are calling for is to make a real demand on the system to take note of these demands and bring about some changes.”

While lamenting that the Ogoni cleanup is too slow, Bassey stressed the need to speed it up, saying that the best expertise should come from anywhere in the world as local resources should not be relied upon alone.

The Executive Director of “We the people”, Mr Ken Henshaw however reeled out the demands of the NDAC including a comprehensive audit of the Niger Delta region which should cover Environmental, livelihoods, health, social as well as the economic impacts of crude oil and gas extraction.

They maintained that the audit must be done immediately followed by remediation of impacted lives, restoration of human and economic damages caused by extraction activities and the reparations for the irreversible damages our people have suffered and endured for 64 years.

On the issue of divestments by the oil companies, they called on the federal government to create a framework and guide for how companies disengage from areas they have worked adding that the framework should assess reports that examine the ecological and livelihood impacts of the oil extraction.