Emma Amaize
12 January 2008
In the beginning prior to the sixties, the people of Odimodi and Ogulagha communities, both oil-rich Ijaw towns in Burutu local government area of Delta state banqueted together. Their young men and women walked down the aisle, they shared the same cultural heritage and time-honored values.
That was before the coming of oil, but, since 1968, 40 years to be specific, when oil companies, starting with the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) stepped into their shores with the establishment of the Forcados Terminal and other facilities, as well as the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) with its flow station and other installations, the five-letter word, peace, had fled from the two communities. It has been claims and counter claims, squabbles, hostilities and bloodshed. For Odimodi, which, in Ijaw language, means pond of fishes, it has been nothing but pond of troubles.
The situation is so terrible that the Iduwini Coalition Forces (ICF), a group of militants, last Sunday night, bombed the Beniboye flow station, owned by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and a Water Disposal Pipeline, belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), the first attack by any militant group on oil facilities in the state in the new year.
Besides, the group also threatened to continue the bombing on sea and land, until the NAOC and SPDC, which, they also accused of polluting their areas, were pursued out of their domain. The truth, however, is that Odimodi and Ogulagha communities are embroiled in a vinegary war that could engulf the state if not quickly nipped in the bud.
For sure, Uduaghan did not create the jealousy and opposition between the two communities. He inherited the troubles as the Governor and father of the state.
2001 Mayhem
The deep-seated animosity between the two communities exploded in 2001, two years after the former governor, Chief James Ibori assumed office. Hundreds of persons perished in that bloody war while property estimated at millions of naira were lost. Actually, the first fracas between both communities was in 1995 when some Odimodi youths were alleged to have been prevented from being employed in the then ongoing Forcados Terminal Integration Project (FTIP) by the Ogulagha community.
The then Area Commander of Police in Warri, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) N. Egbochukwu intervened in the matter. That was in April and in May, that same year, the Odimodi community took men of the Nigeria Police to Beniboye community to arrest some persons and the two policemen, Inspector H. Azosibe and Corporal S. Anigegi were abducted and their guns seized.
The policemen were later produced. The Chief Clark-led panel of Izon (Ijaw) leaders, which, was set up by the state government to resolve the communal crisis between the two communities said in its report: "We also observed that the SPDC and other prospecting and servicing companies use divide and rule tactics to make the Ogulagha and Odimodi people struggle and fight among themselves.
We observed that such apparent lapses on the part of SPDC and its servicing companies, especially some of the staff have helped to fan the embers of suspicion, distrust and hatred among the two sister communities that actually and precipitated this crisis".
"The panel also found out that apart from the hundreds of lives that were lost, properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed. Many of the affected people are still receiving treatment in various private and government hospitals. While many others have been displaced and have neither home nor properties, they need serious and urgent assistance from government, Shell and other agencies", it said.
Our case, by Odimodi people
Spokesman of the Odimodi community, Barrister Sam Ikporukpo who briefed newsmen said: "The neglect and pain of the Niger-Delta communities is no longer news, what is news now is the gang up by the government, the oil companies and the Ogulagha community to shackle Odimodi community and surgically excise our status as an oil bearing community. In Odimodi, we play host to the SPDC and the NAOC. These two companies operate in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 45, 79 and 62 respectively within the Odimodi territory.
He listed the Forcados Terminal, Forcados South Bank flow station, Forcados Estuary flow station and SPDC's 41 oil well clusters in its OML 45 as being the oil facilities in the northern western boundary of Odimodi, the Beniboye flow station, Beniboye flow line, Beniboye offshore oil well clusters, SPDC Crude Loading Platform (CLP), NAOC, Benmogbene oil well location, as the oil facilities in its north eastern and western (Bight of Benin) and southern eastern boundaries, among others.
"The Ogulagha community", it alleged, has falsely and at all times, appropriated to themselves the ownership of all the items listed within SPDC OML 45. This, the Ogulagha community has brazenly done in several of their letters and publications", it asserted, citing their letter of 11 July, 2007 to the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and other documents.
It claimed that it was through such falsification of records that Ogulagha made the SPDC to acquire the Forcados Terminal with it as host until in 1971, after suit No.W/81/69 was settled out of court and the Forcados Terminal was properly acquired from both Odimodi and Ogulagha communities. Odimodi said that in spite of its joint ownership of the Forcados Terminal, the Ogulagha people have not stopped to still falsely claim sole ownership of the Forcados Terminal, adding that lately, it had equally made claims on the oil bearing facilities in NAOC's OML 62, that is Beniboye facilities, which, Odimodi community has lordship and exclusive ownership with an incontestable court judgment.
"However, what the Ogulagha people have done here is to instigate NAOC against us for which reason NAOC has singlehandedly neglected, failed, refused to credit the Odimodi community with all its facilities within our land area. Therefore the over 40 years of NAOC's operation within the OML 62, NAOC has adamantly refused to pay homage to the Odimodi community.
Consequent on this, we have given NAOC one month quit notice to vacate our lands and territory. The notice shall expire on 31 December, 2007 . We shall, thereafter, give them seven days notice of owner's intention to take its possession. When they fail, we shall legally evict them", the community said. But the militants did not wait for the seven days notice of owner's intention to lapse when on Sunday, January 6, 2008 ; they bombed the Beniboye flow station, owned by Agip.
DESOPADEC connection
It tabulated several court cases in which it claimed Ogulagha people instigated other people and also came by themselves to challenge the Odimodi title to Beniboye territory, but, was roundly defeated. It, nevertheless, said that very worrisome to the community was the appointment of an Ogulagha man as the DESOPADEC Commissioner for Burutu people. Pointing out that the Ogulagha people threatened fire and brimstone because of the appointment of one Chief Tom Binebai , an indigene of Oborotu, as the member, representing the Ijaws into the Board of DESOPADEC and went to court to stop his inauguration after the commission's board was dissolved, it said the governor declined to swear in Chief Binebai on the grounds that he had been served the court process.
Claming that Ogulagha's suit failed and was consequently struck out on October 8, 2007, Odimodi said the Delta State Government continued in its refusal to swear in the said Chief Binebai and when Odimodi went to the same High Court in Delta state to restrain the governor from swearing in Mr. Temewei, he turned a blind eye and went ahead to swear him in, in spite of the service of the court processes on him and the Attorney-General of the state.
"Having failed in court, the Ogulagha community started making threats to a breach of the peace in Ogulagha kingdom. True to these threats, an oil delivery line from the Ogulagha community to the Escravos was targeted and blown up. Shortly after this criminal action..., he (Uduaghan) appointed Mr. Temewei of Ogulagha community, immediately supervised his confirmation at the Delta House of Assembly and surreptitiously swore in the said Mr. Temewei in the evening of Tuesday, 18 December, 2007 even when the court processes were served on him through the Attorney-General seven clear days earlier", they said.
Noting that the appointment of a member of the commission had nothing to do with political leanings or militant capacity, it said from all indications, the governor had picked and chosen the Ogulagha people, as his friend, so, the DESOPADEC the law, which, says that the member shall be appointed from the community with the highest production quantum does not matter any more.
As far as they are concerned, the governor by his action "wants to force it down our throat that the Ogulagha community is the highest oil producing community in the whole of Delta South Senatorial district and sole owners of all the items in OML 45 to the detriment of the Odimodi people in spite of their failure in court".
Uduaghan acted in good faith
A government source said the governor has the facts on the oil producing communities in the state and knows which of the communities in Burutu local government is the highest in oil production. He asserted, "There is no bias in the action that state government took in swearing-in Mr. Temewei and there is no need calling him names for doing the right thing. It is the same people that will condemn him if he had done otherwise".
Chairman of Delta State House of Assembly Committee on Information, Hon. Abel Oshevire told Saturday Vanguard that the appointment of Mr. Temewei was done by the executive arm of the government and what the lawmakers did was to check and ensure that he was qualified for the job.
Ogulagha position, by Paramount Ruler, Timiyan
Paramount Ruler of Ogulagha kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Captain Joseph Timiyan told Saturday Vanguard when contacted, "To start with, Odimodi is of Iduwini clan and Ogulagha community is of Ogulagha kingdom. These are two different things and Ogulagha and Odimodi have no relationship in any form. The founder of Ogulagha kingdom is Ogula, he is a direct son of Ijaw and Iduwini, I do not know whether they are great, great grandson of Ijaw but I think they speak Ijaw language. What I am telling you is that we don't have any relationship. That is the truth of the matter.
And for one to claim ownership to flow station or Terminal depends on when either Shell BP or today, SPDC, who they met there and who is the right owner of the place. Let me tell you, let me go back to Odimodi, the present Odimodi, which, you told me that you visited is not even Odimodi is supposed to be, that is even an Ogulagha land. Just that they want to cause problem with the Ogulagha people, which was why they shifted to that present position.
The Forcados Terminal you see, if you get there, there is no difference between the Terminal and the Ogulagha community. Where the Terminal is situated is where the Ogulagha community was before it was relocated for the Terminal. That is why you see it is only the fence that demarcates the community and the Terminal and I know you can see that with your eyes. The Terminal was acquired from Ogulagha community, we have seven quarters and they signed for the acquisition papers and Odimodi's name is not there.
Odimodi is not there, it is not known. Let me still go back, they at times, call Beniboye flow station, the Agip flow station, you see, there are wrong naming in all these processes, that does not mean that Beniboye flow station belong to Odimodi. Beniboye flow station is situated in a community in Ogulagha. So Beniboye flow station is not even in Beniboye, it is in Oguguru in Ogulagha community.
That is the simple truth. And these Shell, Agip, Chevron facilities are in Ogulagha kingdom and owned by the Ogulagha people, exclusive of any other kingdom or community. Odimodis are known as violent people, they are known as oppressors, they have been doing this for a very long time, they oppress people, they intimidate people, and they at times go far away to fight our tenants.
Killing is part of Odimodi, People talk about militants today, and they have been in the militancy business for a long time. So if Odimodi man told you that they have one well head or one flow station, it is pure lie. If they have, let them present those papers. The 2002 crisis between Odimodi and Ogulagha, Chief Clark, who is an Ijaw national leader, intervened and we sat down- we gave our version of the story and they also gave their own.
It is stated clearly in the agreement, they signed, Odimodi people signed and Ogulagha signed. It is specifically written, even the Ijaw leader who presided, knew that Odimodi has no hand in the SPDC Terminal. Part of the resolutions was that Odimodi could seek for jobs and other things in the area, but, should do so without the claim to ownership of land.
But Odimodi people said that Ogulagha falsely presented itself as sole owner and that when it went to court, the Forcados Terminal was properly acquired by the SPDC in 1971 from the two communities?
It is still there in the agreement that was signed. To make peace, according to Chief Clark, out of the rental dues coming, we should give them one third; the Ogulagha community should have two third. Apart from that, they can go there and seek for job like any other person in this country, but, they should not tie it to ownership of land because that place is not owned by Odimodi. We were told to give them one third because they are our neighbours but they are now claiming that because of the one third given to them, they are part owners, it is wrong.Chief Clark is a lawyer; he knows what he was doing when they wrote that agreement, which was why he stated that it is not tied to ownership of land.
Do the Odimodi get that one third up till now when the money comes?
Of course, they get it, you see, agreement is agreement. We give them for peace because we know that if we don't give them, they will come and kill us. We don't want to die, we know them.
The atmosphere in Odimodi was clear that there is a cold war between the people and Ogulagha, what is the state of things between you and them from your own perspective?
For me, I feel that there is a good rapport. The Odimodi community claim Ogulagha as their township, as their Warri. If not for some of these SPDC staff that cannot do without girls, they caused all these, at times, I blame Shell, they caused this problem because Odimodi right from the beginning has beautiful girls and that was why some Shell staff put a link road to Odimodi. They don't have anything to do in Odimodi.
That road had nothing to do with either Shell or the Ogulagha person but just because they want to drive down there to carry girls, they now put that road and that gave privilege to Odimodi people to say that they are also part-owners. From that road, they now say ah, this thing is here, let's be going there to seek for job, it was seeking of job that turned to ownership of land.
Another boiling issue between Ogulagha and Odimodi is the appointment of Mr. Temewei into the DESOPADEC Board, Odimodi said they were robbed because they are the highest oil producing community in Burutu, and you, the royal father, arm-twisted the governor to appoint your subject?
In all circumstances, the truth must prevail. I have no power on my own to arm-twist the governor or the government to do what is not right. I don't have that power. To be frank and sincere, you know the law guiding the DESOPADEC and it says production quantum, Let me even go back to the Terminal issue, that place is just a storage facility, it does not produce one barrel of oil, its only gathering of crude oil that comes from Escravos, Otu-Jeremi, from all over this state and there, there is no well head there. What the Governor looked into and what we, the Ogulagha people looked into, is the law guiding the DESOPADEC.
Get me clearly, we have a lot of flow stations, not just the Terminal, Ogulagha is made up of six major oil bearing communities, go to the SPDC and confirm, we have one from Agip, which, is Oguguru, and the ones scattered around the kingdom. So if you look very well, Agip oil flow stations cover seven or eight communities in the kingdom.
We have the South Bank flow station, the North Bank flow station and others, all in Ogulagha kingdom. The governor knows that Ogulagha community has the highest production figure in Burutu local government area. In fact, if Odimodi man tells you that they are the highest oil producing in this area tell him that he does not know what he is saying, in deed; they don't know what they are doing. This is not militant issue, this is real.
Go to Shell, Agip and Chevron if you want to get the facts, not them sitting down in their village and saying we own this, we own that. The governor has done the right thing by swearing in Mr. Francis Temewei as the commissioner representing the Ijaws of Burutu local government and if the government behaves in this way, peace will reign in the state and in Nigeria . It is only when you are afraid of people and do the wrong thing instead of the right thing that problem will continue.
Are you in touch with your counterpart, the royal father of Odimodi community in trying to find a peaceful settlement of this crisis?
Odimodi is not a kingdom. As I earlier told you, it is under Iduwini kingdom and the royal father of Iduwini kingdom is a personal friend, we speak, we interact, we play together, we don't have problem. He also knows the truth. That the Odimodi community likes to arm-twist the Ogulagha people, even the little they are having, they are benefiting, we just said let us just give them and let them leave us in peace, we know that poverty causes a lot of things.
That is why we gave them that one third, not tied to ownership of land, and they should know that. This is 2002 matter I am talking about, it is not 1930s and it is not intelligence report. They read the memorandum by the Clark panel before they signed, so what are they talking, are they now waking up from sleep or they want to cause another problem.
Clark panel MoU
The Chief Clark panel Memorandum of Understanding between the Ogulagha and Odimodi communities, dated 24 April, 2002, by representatives of both communities acknowledged that the Shell -BP, now SPDC acquired 1,340 acres from Ogulagha community for the construction of Shell Terminal project and that by an agreement entered into by the Ogulagha and Odimodi communities in 1970, it resolved that rentals be shared in the ration of 75 per cent to Ogulagha community and 25 per cent to Odimodi community in order to discontinue the cases in court between the two communities, it was, therefore, resolved thus: "All rental benefits, employment opportunities and contracts that falls within the land originally acquired from Ogulaghan community in May 1968 by Shell BP for the Forcados Terminal Project shall be shared in the ratio of 75 per cent to Ogulagha community and 25 per cent to Odimodi community respectively.
It was also resolved that outside the agreed ratio mentioned in paragraph one above, the Odimodi community like any other community should also be free to seek for any other job in the area, but must do so without the claim to ownership of land; and no community shall use force or intimidation on the other or any employer of labour or contractor or company.
"The Ogulagha community shall withdraw its earlier letter stopping payment of rentals in the Shell acquired land and also such outstanding accruals collected from Shell Petroleum Development Company and shared between the two communities in line with the ratio stated above", the MoU stated.
Counter claim
Odimodi, however, said that it was only when it went to the court in 1969 to challenge the false claim by Ogulagha on sole ownership of the Forcados Terminal that the Ogulagha people sought to settle the matter of out of court, consequent upon which the Terminal was reacquired from the two communities, and from then on, they made joint demands for rent payments from the SPDC.
It showed copy of letter, dated March 12, 1976, by representatives of the two communities acknowledging receipt of rental payment from Shell as owners of the 337.2 hectares of dry land, 93.32 hectares of seasonal swamp, 44.00 hectares of permanent fresh water swamp and 4.0 hectares of sandy beach acquired from the communities for the Forcados Terminal , saying that this was as far back before the Clark panel report and the Ogulagha people cannot wake up today to say that the Odimodi were not co-owners of Forcados Terminal or that they were just accommodating them as neighbours.
They also stated that for the avoidance of doubt that Ogulagha had no claim to any oil facility in Beniboye and also attached some court judgment, which named Odimodi as owners of Beniboye.
Unfinished business with Agip
For the oil companies, Odimodi accused the NAOC of not only being a serial and deliberate polluter, but, illegally and deliberately joining forces with Ogulagha to deny it of its host rights on its Beniboye facilities. "NAOC's environmental standard in the Beniboye area is an affront on our statute books on environmental law.
On the last count, we have eight unresolved oil spill from the NAOC Beniboye flow lines. NAOC has disregarded the Delta State House of Assembly resolutions of 27 September, 2004 to clean up and remediate all polluted areas and pay fair and adequate compensation to the Odimodi people.
As if to add salt to injury, NAOC criminally and intentionally excluded the Odimodi community, land owners of Beniboye from its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its Beniboye offshore wells in January 2001 in contravention of the EIA Decree, No. 86 of 1992, because in collusion with the Ogulagha community, NAOC has refused to accredit us with its offshore oil well location", it said.
On 13 November, 2007 , there was another oil spill from the NAOC's Beniboye flow line and the Odimodi community reported to the relevant authorities. "But rather than boom the spill site and prevent further spill from spreading, the NAOC hired Atlantic Marines Limited to pass through Ogulagha community for a pretentious integrity test of their pipelines in order to tamper with the evidence of the spill.
On a tip off, the community was on site to see the NAOC contractor and the employed Ogulagha youths working on the spill site. This enraged Odimodi community, which, seized their work tools and asked them to follow due process. Ogulagha threatened war", said the spokesman, Ikporuokpo.
That cat and mouse relationship between Odimodi and the NAOC before the company's pipeline was bombed, last Sunday, but Saturday Vanguard gathered that the NAOC, which is based in Port-Harcourt has reached out to some leaders of Odimodi, particularly, as the community had issued it a quit notice to discuss the way forward. But it was not clear whether the community has honoured the invitation, as the tension was still high.
SPDC trunk-line causes tremor in our community
For the SPDC, the community said the company's Trans Ramos trunk-line was causing earth tremor in its domain whenever crude oil was pumped through it. It also complained of its Water Disposal Pipeline, which, it said was polluting its environment.
The SPDC denied the charge even though the Ministry of Environment, Asaba confirmed that the waste water from the pipeline was damaging the vegetation. The company in a letter to the community said, "Contrary to the assertions in your letter, crude oil and effluent water from our Forcados Terminal are handled in line with statutory environmental protection requirements and disposed off via approved environmentally safe methods.
But since the last Sunday bombing incident, the SPDC has initiated a fresh process to satisfy the community that the waste water was not toxic. A community source said that the company contacted some of its leaders to discuss the issues and carry out inspection. Saturday Vanguard also learnt that the Federal Ministry of Environment had ordered investigation into the allegations raised by the community against the oil companies.
If the Clark panel MoU signed by communities to live as brothers and sisters were being religiously followed, the present tension between the two communities would not have arisen or the crisis would have been nipped in the bud. But the truth is that the agreement has been breached by both communities.
For instance, both communities agreed to put in place a 10-member committee with five members representing each of the communities "to always dialogue, treat, negotiate and resolve all disputes and discuss matters of mutual benefits to both communities".
The committee is to meet quarterly and whenever the need arose and any matter, which it was unable to resolve, should be immediately referred to the Izon leadership under Chief Clark for prompt resolution in order to avoid explosive situations between the two communities, but, since 2002 when the agreement was signed, it has been no love lost between them.
Part of the agreement is that no community shall use force or intimidation on the other or any employer of labour or contractor or company. Since then, the communities have been intimidating one another and using force on the oil companies and contractors to drive home their points. The only thing that has not happened between them since the 2001 fratricidal war is that they have not resorted to killing themselves and burning their property.
Before and even after he assumed office, last year, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State was known to have prayed to God at different churches to grant him the wisdom, which, He granted the biblical Solomon to rule the state. So far, God has been compassionate to him, and before year 2007 eclipsed, he, out of some nifty political maneuverings, contained the blitzkriegs that were fired at him by the Delta Elders and Leaders Forum, led by the elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark.
But barely two weeks into the new year, the governor who prides himself as a peacemaker seriously needs God's wisdom to contain the bad blood between the two oil-rich Ijaw communities, one of which had pointedly accused him, correctly or incorrectly, of stoking the up-to-the-minute brouhaha with the appointment of an indigene of an Ogulagha man, Mr. Temewei, as a Commissioner, representing the Ijaws of Burutu local government area on the board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC).
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THIS IS A BIG HAZERD AND NOTHING THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO TO REPLACE THIS CULTURE.