Marginal oil fields: We can no longer guarantee safety of oil facilities — CATESUN
by Bankole
By Festus Ahon
MIFFED by the alleged failure of the Federal and Delta State Governments to keep their promise to dialogue with aggrieved ethnic nationalities over the ceding process of 57 Marginal Oil Fields, the Campaign for The Economic Survival of Urhobo Nation, CATESUN, has warned that they could no longer guarantee the safety of facilities in Urhobo land.
This was contained in a communiqué signed by CATESUN’s National President, Olorogun Ese Kakor, shortly after a meeting of the group at Otu-Jeremi, headquarters of Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State.
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Recall that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had about two months ago met with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and the Delta State Deputy Governor, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, following threats by the ethnic nationalities to shut down oil and gas exploration activities in their domain over alleged cases of marginalisation and neglect.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources had explained that the meeting was organised to discuss the issues raised by the Urhobo people and others with the Vice President and promised to address the issues that led to the agitations to avoid escalation.
CATESUN, in the communique, expressed discontentment with what it described as the controversial process of ceding 57 Marginal Oil Fields to private investors, which excluded the Urhobo people from the process.
Demanding the reordering of the process and inclusion of their national interests, the group lamented that nothing meaningful had been heard from Chief Timipre Sylva and Delta State Deputy Governor, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro after
over two months of promised by the Federal and State governments to dialogue with the Urhobo people and other major oil-producing ethnic nationalities in Delta state,
“Nobody should hold us responsible for any hostility because we have done our part as responsible adults and youths to pacify our angry youths but it seems we can no longer continue with the plea since the federal and state governments have failed on the part of the bargain,” the communique emphasized.