The people of Polobubo (Tsekelewu) in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State say their lives are in danger over a ranging fire on a well-head in the area.
The community said the ongoing fire poses health and ecological hazards to the residents of the area as the said fire has been spewing gas into the atmosphere, a situation that had left the people of the area in fear.
It was learnt that Ikpalakpala-bou well-head which is operated by Chevron Nigerian Limited has been on fire since April 18, 2019.
The people of the community raised the alarm during a peaceful protest held in the community on Monday where they appealed to the government to urgently address the issue.
They also called on the federal government to prevail on Chevron Nigerian Limited, the operator of the Ikpalakpala-bou well-head, not to set off another round of ethnic crisis between them and their Ilaje neighbours in Ondo state.
They alleged that most heated of the issues raised by the current fire was the confusion the community claimed the oil company had generated over the ownership of the land where the facility is located. According to them, Chevron had addressed well-head in a letter sent to the community as Ojumale, name of a community in the neighbouring Ondo state.
Addressing journalists during the protest, some of the leaders of the community, including the Secretary-General of Polobubo National Council, Mr. Midwest Kukuru; Chairman of Polobubo Oil and gas Committee, Deacon Ologun Azikboro; and the Secretary of Polobubo Bloc Youths Executive, Comrade Markson Aboh, all called on the government to swiftly intervene before situations go out of control.
According to Azikboro, Chevron is about sparking the sort of communal crisis that has been experienced in Ogoni land in Rivers state, saying Polobubo people would never allow their land to be ceded to another community, adding that failure of Chevron to act now could lead to the shutting down of its operations in the area.
“We will never agree to that because that place is known as Ikpalakpala-bou well-head, which belongs to Tsekelewu and Opuama communities and I can recall that this is the third incident on that well-head this year and Chevron has yet to close them out. We say a newspaper publication last week Wednesday in which a particular community is claiming to own that well-head.
“I want to use this medium to inform the whole world that Chevron is at the verge of causing another communal crisis and if this happens, it will not do us good and Chevron will live to regret it. This is the same kind of crisis that Shell caused in Ogoniland, but we will never allow it. We will never allow our land to be ceded to another community.
“The boundary adjustment cases are there, we have a lot of historical facts to prove that that place belongs to us. Chevron should address this issue once and for all. They should also address all the ecological hazards that have come with this incident of well-head fire, else we are going to shut down their operations and activities in this area,” he said.
