Oil-producing communities, under the auspices of Host Communities of Nigeria, Producing Oil and Gas, HOSCON, said 10 states in the Niger Delta have agreed to allocate land for the planned construction of modular refineries in each of the states.
In an interview in Abuja, the President of HOSCON, Mr. Mike Emuh, said the governors agreed to allocate the land because of the important role the project is expected to play in the economic lives of each of the states.
He said, “HOSCON has gone to Niger Delta states, we asked for traditional rulers to give us a portion of land for the refineries’ projects and surveyors to survey the land. All these are because we must meet the requirements for establishing modular refineries.
“Almost all the states in the Niger Delta have agreed to give us land for the project in their states. The governors appreciate the issue of pipeline surveillance whereby we are recruiting 10 persons each from each community and also support the issue of the modular refineries because you are bringing income, employment and development to the states and the country as a whole as it would lead to economic growth among others.”
Emuh further stated that the Ogoni cleanup was ongoing, explaining that the contractors had been at the sites for over one year, testing their capabilities
According to him, the contractors had demonstrated their capabilities in over 13 communities in Ogoni land, while he assured that the project would employ and empower over 2,000 women and youths based on the Nigerian Content Act.
“Not only Ogoni would be cleaned up, other communities that were affected by pollution would be affected by the cleanup. Ogoni is mainly within Shell; what about Chevron and all the indigenous and international oil companies that had polluted the land?” he maintained.
On the pipeline surveillance contract, Emuh disclosed that HOSCON had commenced recruitment and training of individuals all over the oil-producing communities.
Presently, he said the group had gotten over 3,000 trained boys and girls that would serve as an informant to the Military Joint Task Force (JTF) and the Federal Government to make sure that people do not take the law into their hands.
“With what HOSCON is doing today, which has brought about peace in the region and an increase in the crude oil and gas output of the country, and also with the ceasefire, the Federal Government and State governments should have realized by now that there is no group as effective as HOSCON,” he averred.
To ensure this issue of pipeline surveillance contract comes to being, Emuh said HOSCON had registered several security companies with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC and had also entered into a partnership with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.
According to him, HOSCON is also in talks with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the NNPC, IOCs and NOCs, to ensure that we create an enabling environment for foreign investments to come in and develop the Niger delta, as well as Nigeria in general.
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