ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, YENAGOA
The Bayelsa State Government has accused multinational oil companies of initiating deliberate policies and programmes to shortchange oil bearing communities.
The government also condemned in strong terms the recent criminal attack on Amabulou community over community leadership elections that led to the death of one Mr Omolojo Etolor.
The state Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, handed down the condemnation at a meeting with some concerned members of the Amabulou community, Ekeremor Local Government Area in Government House, Yenagoa.
Ewhrudjakpo, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, noted that the cluster board programme being run by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was causing more harm than good to the people and state governments in the Niger Delta.
He pointed out that the primary duty of every government is to protect lives and property, and therefore, the present administration would not hesitate to address any issue or situation threatening peace and security in the state.
He said the SPDC and other oil companies had never shown genuine interest in the development of the Niger Delta, rather they design policies and programmes that cause disaffection among the people.
According to him, the state government is worried about the insecurity problem associated with SPDC’s cluster boards in most communities and will soon take measures to address it in a comprehensive manner.
He said: “Shell has not been fair in their dealings with the people of the Niger Delta. Whether you look at it from the economic, social and development points of view, you will find out that they (oil companies) have failed in their responsibility.
“It has always been a tale of woes with Shell. Look at what they are doing to our people with their cluster board programme, causing problems in our communities. So the State Executive Council is worried.
“If Shell was responsible and responsive enough in discharging their duties, we will not have some of the military men permanently in our creeks. They always design programmes that will serve their ends to our own detriment.
“As a government, we are seriously looking at this issue at the State Executive Council meetings. But I won’t be able to tell you today, the prescription the state government has up its sleeves for this reckless show of irresponsibility.”
On the Amabulou incident, the Deputy Governor assured the people that the government would leave no stone unturned in its determination to bring to justice all those who played a role in the killing of Etolor.
While consoling the Etolor family, Ewhrudjakpo restated the present administration’s zero tolerance
stance for criminality and warned youths not to allow anybody deceive them with any assurance of invincibility to commit crimes.
In their contributions, the lawmaker representing Ekeremor Constituency Two, Mr Wilson Ayaokpo, and the Chairman of Ekeremor Local Government Area, Hon. Perekeme Bertola, attributed the threat to peace in Amabulou and other communities in the area to tussle for membership of the SPDC cluster boards.