By Tejiri Ebikeme
THE Commanding Officer 19 Battalion, Koko, Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, Lt. Col MA Maaji has waded into the recent protest over electricity against Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) by the people of Kokodiagbene Community, Gbaramatu Kingdom Warri South West Local Government Area of the State.
Hundreds of indigenes of Kokodiagbene in Gbaramatu kingdom in Warri South West local Government area of Delta State had on February 1,2017, stormed the Utonana flow station operated by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) protesting against the company’s alleged refusal to supply electricity to the oil rich community and threatened to shut down operations of the Company at the expiration of a 14–day ultimatum.
Only recently, the Community raised the alarm over alleged plan by American oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) to clamp down on leaders of the community over their demand for electricity supply from the company and implored the State Government and relevant authorities to call the company to order.
It would be recalled that on Monday, February, 20, 2017, the State Government invited some of the leaders of the Community to Asaba for a meeting with a view of resolving the issue.
And now the Commanding Officer(CO) 19 Battalion, Koko, Lt. Col Maaji has intervened in the lingering face-off between Chevron and the oil rich Kokodiagbene Community.
Our Correspondent gathered that on Wednesday, March, 22, 2017, the Army Boss invited some of the leaders of the Community to Koko for a meeting with a view of resolving the issue.
The meeting, chaired by the Army Boss in his office, started at about 12:45pm and was rounded up at 2:05pm.
According to our source, Lt. Col Maaji, after hearing the presentation of the Community pleaded with them to give him sometime to engage relevant authorities over the issue.
He advised the community to maintain peace, support Government and security agents within the area.
It was gathered that the representatives of the Community, led by the Chairman, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, expressed gratitude to the Commanding Officer for intervening in the matter and appealed to the Army and relevant authorities to prevail on Chevron Nigeria Limited to supply them with the electricity in order for the company to operate in a peaceful and conducive environment and made it clear that no amount of intimidation will make them to succumb.
They also informed the Commanding Officer of alleged plan by the management of Chevron to instigate the Army against some leaders of the Community by implicating them with negative allegations to enable security agents to arrest them and said that they were not afraid of being thrown in jail.
Meanwhile, the people of Kokodiagbene community, Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State have implored Governor Ifeanyi Okowa not to take their peaceful disposition on demand for electricity from Chevron Nigeria Limited CNL for granted and threatened to relocate peacefully to join and enjoy electricity with Chevron staff at Utonana flowstation in April.
The chairman of Kokodiagbene community, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, said in Warri that the people of the community were not happy with the handling of the vexed issue by the state government and threatened to resort to self help.
According to him;” It will be recalled that on February 20, 2017, kokodiagbene community was invited for a meeting with the state government presided over by SSG at Asaba, which the community gave the state government over 40 days to resolve this issue that has been lingering since 1998 between the Chevron Nigeria Limited and her host kokodiagbene Community”.
The Community chairman added that;”We strongly appeal and advise Governor Okowa and the state government not to take our peaceful disposition and honorable suspension of our planned occupation of the Chevron Utonana flowstation which is less than two kilometers from Kokodiagbene for granted because any act of failure from the state government to resolve this issue within the time frame will amount to self help by the community”.
He lamented that successive governments had intervened severally without any reasonable effort to make Chevron Nigeria Limited to do the needful for her host communities, and said that;” We want to categorically and vehemently state that we should be counted out of any political pretense gathering under the disguised of stakeholders meeting to resolve the Kokodiagbene electricity issue with Chevron”.
“The Governor should not bother to invite us for any political meeting concerning the electricity to Kokodiagbene community because it is becoming very clear that the state government as usual cannot come to our aid but only interested in the crude oil from our land. Therefore, we have no other options than to relocate peacefully to join and enjoy electricity with Chevron staff at Utonana flowstation by April 2017”, Comrade Mulade stated.
