Isoko nation host communities in the Oil Mining Lease, OML 30, have issued a 14-day ultimatum to an oil company operating in the area to pay all funds accruing to the communities to officials of their board failure which they would not guarantee “peaceful and uninterrupted operations.”
Isoko has four cluster communities which produces 65 percent of the total crude oil production while Urhobo with six clusters produce 35 percent.
The host communities, in a communique issued at the end of a meeting of their traditional rulers, presidents-general and cluster nominees, urging the management of Heritage Energy Operational Services to abide by their resolution.
Signed by the Odiologbo of Oleh kindom, HRM A Ovrawah, President General of Igbide kingdom, Dr. Patrick Oboghor and 15 others, the communique noted that arising from the discrimination against them, “the Isoko clusters, before the expiration of immediate past board, commenced a very intense agitation for the formation of their own separate and independent CDB.
Before now, they had set up a separate Community Development Board, CDB, alleging discrimination and breach of agreement on rotation of principal executive positions in the CDB of the oil bloc, comprising the Urhobo, Isoko, Ijaw and Itsekiri ethnic nationalities.
The communities said the interest of the Isoko Nation cannot be protected in the OML 30 under the same CDB with the Urhobo nation.
“It took the intervention of the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa for the Isoko communities to put on hold the agitations especially when it was agreed that the positions held by Urhobo, including the chairman of the board will revert to the Isoko Nation in the new board”.
“When it was time to fill the CDB executive positions as per the precedence and His Excellency’s directive, some persons capitalised on the Urhobo’s numerical strength of nominees from their six clusters,” the communique noted.
