Residents of Sangana Kingdom, in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, staged a massive protest on Monday against the Nigerian Government, the Niger Delta Development Commission,NDDC, and oil companies operating in their domain, over alleged neglect.
DAILY POST gathered that residents of the Kingdom are angry that the Federal Government and the oil companies have not intervened despite worsening erosion challenges in the community.
The protesters, who were armed with placards with inscriptions such as “We are a peaceful people and does not envisage a break down of law and order”, “Save Sangana Kingdom from the ravaging sea encroachment”, “We produce the black oil of the nation and deserve better”, “Save our Land, ancestral heritage, properties and economic valuables”, cried out that the Old Sangana will go into extinction if nothing is done to protect the community from erosion.
According to the protesters, the Federal Government through its agency, the NDDC, and the oil companies working in the area, including Consolidated Oil & Gas Company, Statoil, Shell ( H-Block), Chevron, and NIGDEL, have all neglected the community.
The Community Development Chairman of Sangana Kingdom, Mr Preboye Reuben, said the Federal Government, NDDC and the oil companies have allegedly refused to perform their corporate social responsibilities, even though they have been extracting oil in the community for the past three decades.
Reuben said, “It is 25 years now since the NNPC and its multinational oil companies started crude oil production, yet, the Nigerian state has yet to show that it honours and recognises where the company has continued to extract crude oil for four decades.
“We are calling on Dr Samuel Ogbuku, the MD of NDDC, to save a sister community Sangana Bayelsa State. In 2009, NDDC under the leadership of former MD Mr Timi Alaibe, awarded shore protection contract in Sangana but it was abandoned after 30% completion in 2010.
“Now, we have another Bayelsa man at the helm of affairs in NDDC. Letters in this regard has been written to the new NDDC management but to no avail.”
He stressed that with the current problem of coastal erosion in the area, Sangana Kingdom will be no more in the next 10 years.
