By Udoyo Oyosongo, Yenagoa
There is an uneasy calm in Twon Brass Kingdom in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State as the 30-day ultimatum handed down to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company(NAOC) over total disregard and violation of laws and guidelines of Nigeria in its operations at the Brass Export Terminal expired.
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The Council of Chiefs had in a nine-page letter issued a 30-day ultimatum demanding a meeting with the management of the company to resolve issues of pollution and environmental management plan 43 years since it started operations in Twon Brass.
“Twon Brass Kingdom has continuously suffered an onslaught of liquid, gaseous, solid and noise pollution from your company’s operations since 1973. It would be premature to pinpoint which of the three pollutants has impacted severely on the flora and fauna in the community but the most obvious are oil gas pollution,” the chiefs wrote.
According to the council of chiefs, the kingdom had borne the brunt of the value chain of export namely: separation of crude from the flow station and facilities; dumping of wastewater after separation into pits in the Brass terminal; discharge of untreated waste into Agip canal and emission of unused gas in liquid and gaseous forms in the Twon Brass Terminal.
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The chiefs expressed disappointment with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed which did not include other organs of the kingdom namely the elders’ council, women group and the youth.
It noted that previous attempts to resolve issues have been frustrated by the company, adding that it would not allow them to take necessary steps to seek redress for the people.
“Please note that the Twon Brass Kingdom Council of Chiefs would be compelled to use all legitimate means to seek redress if Agip fails or refuses to meet our ultimatum to engage you on these issues or attempts to frustrate the meeting.”
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Oil industry experts said a disruption of operations at Brass Terminal which is the largest Agip Oil facility in Nigeria would upset oil output in the country and create serious instability in the economy.
Investigation revealed that the chiefs are very resolute and have decided not to back down on their demands to the company.
