Brass Community seeks remediation of environmental impact of Agip's Export Terminal

The Brass Community in Bayelsa has demanded the remediation on the environmental and economic damages to the Brass Canal by the Brass Crude Export Terminal for the past 48 years.

The demand was contained in a letter to the Managing Director of Nigeran Agip Oil Company (NAOC) by a law firm Ntephe, Smith and Wills for the Brass settlement dated May 25, 2020.

NAOC, an affiliate of Italian Energy firm Eni operates the offshore oil terminal along with some onshore oil block in the swamps of Bayelsa in addition to Joint Venture stakes in other fields operated by Shell in Bayelsa.

According to the letter, made available in Yenagoa on Wednesday, the remediation of the Brass Canal is overdue and being delayed by the oil firm.

      

Nigerian Content Board intervenes in NLNG’s N970m dispute with Nigerian company, Macobarb

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has waded into the dispute between the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and a Nigerian company, Macobarb International.

It was gathered that the N970 million contractual dispute is being mediated by the NCDMB as reconciliatory meetings have been held at NCDMB’s headquarters in Yenagoa.

Macobarb wants to be paid about N970m by the NLNG for what it termed wrongful termination of a contract and value for downtime and equipment on site over some period of time.

Bayelsa seals 6 churches for breaching COVID-19 protocols

The Bayelsa Government has sealed  six churches in the state for breaching ”operational protocols” required to conduct services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state government on May 7,  relaxed its restriction on social gatherings and allowed churches to hold services with up to 50 worshipers.

The relaxation was granted, subject to compliance to strict conditions on provision of  hand washing facilities, wearing of face masks and observance of social distancing in the seating arrangements.

Mr Freston Akpor, Permanent Secretary, Bayelsa Ministry of Information, however, said on Monday in Yenagoa,  that the Security Sub – Committee of the state’s Task Force on COVID- 19, sealed the churches during its surveillance on Sunday.

Bayelsa Govt vows to complete demolition of illegal structures in Yenogoa as COVID-19 Task Force says it would resist inducement

Bayelsa Government on Tuesday said that there was no going back on the ongoing demolition of illegal structures in pursuit of its urban renewal project.

It would be recalled that the Bayelsa COVID-19 Task Force chaired by Gov. Douye Diri had in the past weeks  demolished illegal structures at Swali and Etegwe areas of Yenagoa, Bayelsa capital.

Mr Freston Akpor, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information in a statement in Yenagoa, urged residents to disregard speculations that the task force would be influenced to back down.

Akpor, who is also a member of the COVID-19 Task Force in Bayelsa,  said that a fraudulent syndicate was obtaining money from unsuspecting traders and landlords , while promising them that they would facilitate de- alisting of their property from those slated for demolition.

“Landlords and traders in Yenagoa, have been cautioned to be mindful of fraudsters promising to protect their illegal structures from removal by security sub-committee of the task force on COVID-19.

NDDC Audit: Ex-militant leaders cry out over delayed contractors payments

Ex-Militant leaders on Sunday in Yenagoa cried out to the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over delays occasioned by ongoing audit at the commission.

The leaders bemoaned the untold hardship experienced by contractors after certified completion of works without being paid.

The leaders under the aegis of the the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI) said some of the contractors were faced with threats of forfeiture of collateral to banks over unpaid loans.

Ijaw Elders advocate end to factions in IYC, INC drum support for Gov Diri

An Ijaw Elegers Group from the central zone in Bayelsa says it is working to end factions in two umbrella groups the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and Ijaw National Congress (INC).

The Elders under the auspices of Ijaw Elders Consultative Forum pledged to unify Ijaws to collaborate to overcome the unique development challenges faced by th.e predominantly coastal dwellers.

Chairman of the group Chef T. K. Ogoriba who spoke to newsmen at the weekend in Yenagoa noted that disunity amongst the Ijaw youths and elders had often retarded the progress in the quest for improved life for the Ijaws.

He said that the elders were already working on mobilizing stakeholders to have an acceptable and rancor free elections into the IYC and will afterwards do the same to the INC and revive the body from its comatose state.

NOSDRA says equipment failure caused 2 spills from Agip's oilfields in Bayelsa

The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) says the two leaks from Agip's oilfields in  Southern Ijaw and Brass Local Government Areas (LGAs) were caused by equipment failure.

Mr Idris Musa, Director-General of NOSDRA confirmed the development on Saturday.

According to the D-G officials of the spill agency conducted a Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) to Agips 10" Cough creek-Tebidaba pipeline at Ologbobiri in Southern Ijaw LGA and found the cause to be equipment failure.