Some youths of Ijaw communities in Edo on Wednesday stopped the workers of the proposed trunkline between Gbetiokin field and Adagbarasa field being undertaken by Elcrest over non inclusion of the communities in the project.
The workers who were carrying out survey of the route where the proposed pipeline will take, were chased away by youths of the communities.
A representative of the youths, Mr Andrew Adowei, described the action of the oil company as an affront on the people of the communities.
He said aside the need to inform the people of the proposed survey, none of those carrying out the survey are from the communities that the pipeline passed through.
According to him, “We, youths of Ijaw communities within OML 40 havr stopped a survey work for the preparation of a pipeline (trunkline) that will link the the Gbetiokin oil field to Adagbarasa manifold.
“Our anger stem from the fact that we see the action of Elcrest as gross disrespect for these communities. Nobody has come to abreast us about the ongoing survey within our own territory.
“This is an unusual practice by oil companies to just come into host communities without prior information of the scope of work or what they are about doing.”
Adowei however stated that some months back, the company had intimated the communities of their plan and even engaged a youth from one of the community as Ijaw coordinator of the project.
“Prince Igbiriki Barakemiye who is the Ijaw coordinator of this project came down to the community to hint us about the scope of the job and even engaged some of our youths.
“But right now, it is just a different scenario we are seeing. They have dropped all the proposed plans they had unfolded to us months back.
“The trunkline is project is being diverted from the initial arrangement and many Ijaw communities that were first captured in the project in the first phase has been removed.
“As we speak, nobody has come to tell us the true state of things why the Ijaw communities were extricated from the pipeline project.
“We only woke up to see workers in our communities without any information or notice.
“What Elcrest is doing is a recipe for ethnic crisis because they seems to be working with a particular tribe by removing the Ijaw communities from the project.
“We want to therefore call on the state and federal government to call the management of Elcrest to order before things starts to degenerate within the Benin river,” he appealed.
Meanwhile, a representative of the company, Mr Benson Masade declined to speak on the matter when his reason took was sort.
