EX-MILITANTS and community leaders in Kou Kingdom in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State in the Niger Delta region have issued a fresh 21-days ultimatum to an oil firm, Britannia-U Nigeria Limited, to address the destruction done to their communities from the fire outbreak that razed 4,000barrels of crude thus causing untold damages to their Communities in Kou Kingdom.
The ultimatum was given in a joint statement signed by the ex-militants and community leaders led by the National Chairman Kou Kingdom, Elder Patrick Irou, Chairman of Agge Okibou Zion Community, Comrade Igbala Godday, Chairman of Yotu community, Engr. Wanfede Binalayefa, Engr. Micheal Braboke, National Youth President Kou Kingdom, Ashaka Joseph JP, as well as Human Rights group, Kou Kingdom and host of others.
In the statement obtained by Ijaw Heritage Television on Wednesday, the petitioners warned that if Britannia-U doesn’t emback on cleanup, remediation and compensation of the affected communities, they will take every decisive action known to law to stop continued operations of the company in their areas.
Also, leaders of the affected communities besieged the National Oil Spill and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in Warri, Delta State, to make their grievances known to the zonal head who appealed to them to exercise patience while the issues are being looked into.
It would be recalled that the fire incident occurred on Thursday, July 18, 2024, at the Floating Production Storage and Offloading Facility (FPSO) of Britannia-U Nigeria Limited, offshore Forcados in Delta State, where Uju Ifejika (OFR) is the CEO.
The fire outbreak reportedly razed the 4,000 barrels of crude oil per day capacity Britannia-U1 FPSO operated by Nigerian independent producer, which has five vessels in its fleet, including Brittania-U (an FSO), Brittania-U (a barge), and Brittania-U (a tugboat), among others.
The Brittania-U barge and tugboat are used to convey about 40,000 barrels of crude oil bi-weekly from its production facilities in Forcados to the Chevron Tank Farm in Escravos.
The statement by the aggrieved Ex-agitators and community leaders partly reads, “If Britannia-U do not meet these demands before the end of 21 days, we have no option but to take action that will stop the company’s operations across our areas and show them what we are capable of doing. “We have had enough of being taken for granted.”
The statement continued, “We watched as the company carry out their oil business without engagement of the communities not even consideration for jobs and the company vessels, oil tankers ply our waterways on daily bases. “The fire incident though unfortunate but natural justice is real and this time we are demanding a cleanup, compensation and the lifting of the wreckages of their badge from the water where the population is still going on.
“The company, Brittania-U does not care if their activities has been causing untold hardship to us whose livelihood is dependent on fishing. Worst of it all for the fire incident all fishing and farming activities have been brought to a standstill while the company goes about with new oil business deals, even coming back to our place to commence another operation.
“We must act to tell them that we are not foolish for maintaining a peaceful disposition all these while. Now that it is clear that we have been taken for granted, our fight for survival is the last resort and we will not be deterred with military forces they may resort to to intimate and oppress us. “We are angry and we have decided to register our grievances since no form of joint investigation was made to our affected communities”.
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