Egi community laments oil exploration

By Akanimo Sampson

Bureau Chief, Port Harcourt

For the Egi people, a micro-ethnic nationality in the Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, the advent of oil exploration activities in their community has been a disaster. And they hold the Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited responsible for their plight. They compare the relationship with the oil giants to that between Shell, the Anglo-Dutch trans-national oil corporation and the Ogoni people. Ironically, while the Shell – Ogoni conflict is a matter of public knowledge, that between Elf and Egi has remained relatively unknown outside the Egi area.

Egi is made up of 17 rural towns and villages, with a population of some 350,000 persons. Recently, the people, led by the traditional ruler of Egi-Etiti, Eze Monday Nwaobiyebe, cried out over they described as a case of oppression, exploitation, and environmental despoliation.

Going by the testimonies of the local people, between 1971 and 1989, Elf discovered and drilled 116 oil wells. Since 1964 when it began exploration in its first oil well - Obagi I – in the community, the people allege that the company’s exploration and production activities have badly damaged the Egi environment.

The alleged negative aspect of the oil company’s activities came to light for the first time in 2000 at Akabuka, a rural community within Egi, where the major sources of livelihood are subsistence farming and fishing.

But before then, in 1972, the community had its first experience of the ugly side of oil. That year, there was an unprecedented oil blow-out and an earth tremor, which resulted in the collapse of one of Elf’s oil wells.

They also told Daily Independent that in 1978, there was a major spill from Elf’s facility – OB4 and 5. Crude oil spewed over a large expanse of farmlands, swamps and rivers. The oil company however blamed the incident on sabotage, the traditional ruler informed.

Apparently disturbed by the worsening environmental and health conditions in Egi, the traditional ruler has called on Elf to change its attitude towards the community in a bid to smoothen the “rough” relationship with their host communities.

For Egi youth leader and minority rights activist, Kennedy Esi, “we are frustrated by the abysmal underdevelopment of our area despite Elf’s heavy presence.”

Generally, the Egi people allege that their environment is suffering the effect of dumping of human and industrial chemical waste. They also claim that the oil company does not treat them like human beings.

“On a daily basis, our people are arrested and taken to detention cells on allegations of sabotage,” an Egi indigene said, adding, “our people are tortured to the state of coma, just as the company inflicts indignity on us.”

The Egi people claim that between 1964 and 2002, they recorded over 2,350 deaths, allegedly caused by harmful oil exploration and production activities in their area.

“Our people who eat fish from polluted water or walk bare foot on areas where oil spill occurred have contacted cancer,” they said, pointing out that some of the hazardous compounds associated with crude oil “have endangered our health, farmlands and fishing ponds.”

According to Esi, “our people suffer from problems said to be associated with heavy metals found in crude oil, such as cadmium and mercury. Our food crops are being poisoned through the absorption of cadmium and mercury into the food chain.”

The community has therefore demanded that Elf empanels an independent body of experts to carry out thorough environmental impact assessment of oil production activities in Egi; and that the company should embark on broad-based remediation projects as well as relocate the Obite community from its present settlement.

Efforts to get an official response from the company to the issues and allegations raised by the Egi people have not been successful. On Monday, May 24, 2004, this reporter contacted the company’s spokesman, Mr. Fred Ohwahwa, on telephone for comments. He however declined and instead requested that the matter be put into writing.

This the reporter did through e-mail the same day, requesting among other issues raised by the Egi people response on the allegation that the company’s pipelines were more than 40 years old.

A week after sending the e-mail, the company’s spokesman was again contacted on phone. This time, he claimed that the departments concerned were looking into the issues. “Please, exercise patience with us,” he pleaded. But at the time of filing this report, after a third attempt to get to the company’s response, the spokesman simply retorted: “The official position of the company is that the questions are big. We cannot respond to big questions. Thank you.”

Lamenting their plight, the traditional ruler of Egi faulted the oil and gas company’s claims to strict adherence to health, safety and environment regulations, saying instead the Franco-Belgian company does not contribute to the development of communities where it operates.

Elf is a subsidiary of Total, and has joint venture and exploration partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and several other oil companies.