Members of the Omoku community in the Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State have filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Oando Nigeria, and Agip Oil, accusing them of failing to comply with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). The plaintiffs, youth leaders from the Omoku Communities Youth Leaders Forum (OCYLF), are demanding that the oil companies recognize their communities as host communities and engage directly with them as required by law.
The youth leaders, including Ekeukwu Pureheart, Daniel Woko, Famous Clinton, Ugochukwu Adah, Victor Eke, and Stanley Ohia, argue that for decades, the oil companies have exploited the land of the Omoku communities without formally acknowledging them or offering any significant benefits. The lack of engagement, they claim, has denied the communities their rightful share of development projects and community-driven initiatives that should have been provided under the PIA.
“We’ve been suffering for over five decades, while our land has been exploited. The PIA was supposed to change this, but Oando, NNPCL, Agip, and others continue to ignore the law,” said Ekeukwu Pureheart, Coordinator-General of the OCYLF. “We are in court to ensure that justice is served and the law is upheld.”
The lawsuit follows a previous legal action filed by the group (FHC/PH/CS/281/2024), addressing concerns about environmental degradation and neglect caused by the oil extraction activities in the region. This new suit, filed before a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, seeks compliance with the PIA by demanding that the oil companies directly engage with the Omoku communities and implement the Host Community Development Trust.
The plaintiffs contend that the PIA mandates oil companies to engage with individual host communities, ensuring fair distribution of benefits and the development of local infrastructure. Despite multiple government directives, the companies have allegedly failed to recognize the Omoku communities and engage with them in a meaningful way.
The lawsuit demands that each community in the Omoku cluster be officially recognized as a host community and that oil companies engage directly with their leadership, not through proxies. It also calls for the full implementation of the Host Community Development Trust, ensuring that each community has representation on management and advisory committees, as well as a Community Development Plan (CDP).
“We are not asking for favors,” said Monday Eluozo, representing the Obosi community. “We are demanding what is rightfully ours. The PIA was enacted to protect us, and we will not allow these companies to ignore it any longer.”
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In a separate but related development, Dr. Mike Nwielaghi, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Trust Fund for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, expressed confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to addressing the challenges faced by the Ogoni people. Nwielaghi praised the federal government’s democratic approach to engaging with the Ogoni community, highlighting key projects like the establishment of the University of Environment and the completion of the East-West road.
“We are grateful for President Tinubu’s support and his deep understanding of the struggles of the Ogoni people,” Nwielaghi said. “The government’s approach is fostering trust, and we urge the Ogoni people to unite behind the president’s vision for our development.”
