Seven years after a gas
explosion at Chevron’s oilfield off Bayelsa coastline, youths from Koluama have
proposed an out of court settlement of conflicts caused by the incident of Jan
2012.
The position of the
youths was contained in a letter to the Commanding Officer of the Front Operations Naval Base koluama 2 made available in Yenagoa..
Hundreds of Koluama youths had on Sept. 15 2014
boarded the North Apoi oil platform operated by Chevron over nonpayment of
compensation for the rig blowout and vacated the facility after officials of
the oil firm opted for dialogue.
The January 2012 explosion sparked off a fire
incident which burnt at the oil rig for over 50 days before it was put out.
Victims of the Chevron’s KS Endeavour Rig Explosion in
Funiwa oil field in September 2015 dragged the firm to a San Francisco
court in the United States where the hearing has been ongoing.
The youths under the
auspices of Koluama Clan Youth Presidents Forum (KCYPF) said that they plan to
table the peace deal before officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited at the Funiwa
5 well operated by Chevron in the area.
The letter was signed
by Mr.Digba Ikiotimi, Koluama 2,
President, Mr.Omietimi Henry and Mrs.Perewari Boghomem, Koluama 2 Women Leader.
According to the letter, the
community wishes to resolve the lingering litigation through meaningful
dialogue and move on.
“The
disaster destroyed our environment and the entire ecosystem which is our means
of survival.
“It is sad to note that after seven
years of patience,the CHEVRON/NNPC Joint Venture have not taken reasonable
steps to resolve a salient issue affecting the lives and survival of her host
communities.
“In view of the above, based on the
over whelming need to act now that we are still alive, the youths of koluama
have resolved that a multi- stake holders committee is set up to resolve the
issue without any further delay.
“ The anticipated multi stake holder
committee ought to include representatives from; Lead plaintiffs/counsels
(legal) from every legal action against CHEVRON/NNPC home and abroad,
Chevron representatives, government representatives,” the letter read in part.
According to them, membership of the
proposed committee should include representatives of individual claimants as
well as community representatives.
It was gathered that officials of
the Nigerian Navy at the Koluama based urged the youths to approach the Central
Naval Command in Yenagoa as they were not competent to handle the issues
raised.
Sub Lt Patricia Dike, Acting Information
Officer at the Central Naval Command, Yenagoa told NAN that that the Navy had
nothing to do with granting permissions for peaceful protest.
“The matter is out of our mandate,
if any group intends to protest, it is the Nigeria Police and the Bayelsa
government that they should channel their requests to not the Navy,” Dike said
Public Affairs department of Chevron
have yet to respond to an email requesting for comments on the 2012 rig
explosion
.
As positive as the move of the Youths is,it would be better is this decision was reached after wide consultation with all stakeholders because; as we know,over sisty cases are in Nigerian Courts and one in California,USA.Yet, they are others who just notified Chevron about injuries suffered by their clients.
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